Republicans stand by Pete Hegseth amid text dispute as Democrats call for his resignation

WASHINGTON - Pete Hegseth’s text chain that was shared with a journalist, divulging national security plans, has resulted in calls for his resignation just months into the Forest Lake native’s tenure leading the Pentagon.

Democrats are seeking a full investigation into what happened -- and some want the resignations of Hegseth and President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz. They and other national security leaders discussed plans to bomb the Houthi rebels in Yemen on the encrypted messaging app Signal, a text chain on which Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic magazine was somehow looped in.

Goldberg said the thread included sensitive information about the attack, including “specific time of a future attack. Specific targets, including human targets, meant to be killed in that attack. Weapons systems,” he told MSNBC.

Fellow Minnesotan and now head of the Democratic National Committee Ken Martin quickly set the tone for the party Monday evening by calling for Hegseth’s resignation or firing.

“As a Minnesotan, Pete Hegseth is the worst export from Minnesota that we’ve ever seen,” Martin said in an interview alongside U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries “His actions ... undisciplined way of communicating, put Americans’ lives at risk and he needs to either resign or be fired.” Jeffries went from urging an investigation into the incident on Monday to calling for Hegseth to be “fired immediately” nearly 24 hours later on Tuesday evening.

Reps. Kelly Morrison and Ilhan Omar followed Martin’s lead Tuesday. Morrison called for both Hegseth’s and Waltz’s resignations. Waltz apparently was the first official to loop Goldberg into the text chain.

“This level of negligence in handling American military intelligence is completely unacceptable. Defense Secretary Hegseth and National Security Advisor Waltz must immediately resign — or be fired,” Morrison said in a statement. She also called for a congressional oversight investigation to “ensure this never happens again.”

Omar called Hegseth “an embarrassment to Minnesota” who should step down.

“His complete incompetence and blatantly illegal actions demonstrate he is grossly unfit to lead the Department of Defense,” Omar said in a statement. “He should resign immediately for putting our national security and military personnel at risk.”

The National Security Council confirmed the text chain was authentic. Hegseth and the White House have denied that any “war plans” were discussed in the thread.

Some Republicans also called for an investigation. But Trump and other Republicans indicated Tuesday they plan to move on and are standing by Hegseth and Waltz.

“The main thing was, nothing happened,” Trump told reporters. “The attack was totally successful. From what I understand, it took place during, and it wasn’t classified information.” Trump indicated that there likely will be no firings and he doesn’t think Waltz should apologize.

Former Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, who helped usher Hegseth through a tough U.S. Senate confirmation process, rebuffed calls for Hegseth to quit.

“I think the calls for resignation are foolishness. Ultimately, people serve at the pleasure of the president.” Coleman said in an interview. “What you got here was, in the end, a public reveal of some very good policy and thoughtful policy discussions. So, no downside in that.”

Asked if Hegseth should be investigated for the text chain, Rep. Brad Finstad, the only member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, deferred to the White House.

“Safeguarding classified information is critical to national security,” Finstad said in a statement. “While this situation is still under investigation, I am confident that the Trump administration will take the necessary steps to address this and ensure it will not happen again.”

Rep. Betty McCollum, who serves as a ranking member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, also called for a congressional investigation, seeking an understanding if “the inappropriate use of Signal is a widespread practice within the Trump Administration, whether the Espionage Act was violated, and how this security lapse impacts our relationships with intelligence-sharing partners around the globe,”

Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, who both opposed Hegseth’s confirmation, slammed Hegseth.

“Real leaders take accountability when they make mistakes. The most senior members of our national security and intelligence community agencies made a colossal mistake,” Smith said in a statement. Her office said she, too, wants Hegseth to resign.

Klobuchar also called for an investigation, saying: “We leave the doors wide open to our adversaries when we are careless with sensitive military information. I voted against Secretary Hegseth’s nomination in the first place, and I don’t think he should be Defense Secretary.”