During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) spoke about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
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00:00Mr. President, I rise to discuss my concern about the chaos that is
00:09roiling the Department of Defense. Sunday will mark the 100th day of Pete
00:15Hegstead serving as Secretary of Defense. During his confirmation hearing, Mr.
00:22Hegstead said, quote, President Trump wants a Pentagon laser focused on war
00:28fighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That's it. That's my job.
00:35Well, Mr. President, Secretary Hegstead is failing the mission President Trump gave
00:42him. His actions over the past 100 days have done nothing but distract the
00:47Pentagon and undermine its war fighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and
00:53readiness. In his first 100 days, Secretary Hegstead has terminated or weakened
01:00programs and processes that are the bedrock upon which the military recruits
01:07personnel and trains service members to go into battle. For example, in February, the
01:14Secretary announced his plan to slash the civilian workforce by five to eight
01:20percent, terminate probationary workers, and institute a hiring freeze. These severe
01:28measures have only meant more work for the remaining employees and more costly
01:34work for military officers and contractors to cover the gaps or simply not to
01:41carry out the missions. The Secretary has also launched a number of efforts to
01:46eliminate diversity and inclusion programs, which have led to more limited
01:51recruiting efforts, plans for separating honorably serving transgender service
01:57members, dissolving social clubs at the military academies, banning and removing
02:03books from the Naval Academy, and inspiring walkouts by students at DOD schools
02:09abroad over book bans and curriculum changes. Frankly, I joined the Army in
02:151967 and served on active duty for 12 years. And the idea that dependent children of
02:23military personnel in a DOD school in Germany would protest the Secretary of Defense to
02:31me was inconceivable. But it's happened. Showing, I think, great anxiety in the ranks of our
02:42military personnel all across the globe. The Secretary is also failing his duty to
02:48lead the department by example. That's one of the key touchstones of any leadership. Do what I do.
02:57Follow me. For example, on March 24th, Mr. Higstead demonstrated a severe lack of judgment when he texted
03:09classified military intelligence on the unclassified and unsecure signal app to at
03:17least two group chats, including one with his wife, brother, and personal lawyer. Which raises the
03:25question, why would they have access to or should have access to highly classified information?
03:32That information, if intercepted by an adversary, would endanger the lives of our servicemen deployed
03:40downrange. The Secretary also installed a dirty line, quote unquote, which is an unsecured internet
03:50connection into his Pentagon office so he could more easily send texts and personal emails. Such actions
03:59violate the laws and protocols that every other military serviceman is required to follow. When they
04:08bring in enlisted personnel, junior officers, and tell them about the boundaries of proper cyber use, they
04:20make it very clear it is completely inappropriate, indeed dangerous, to plug a dirty line into an official computer.
04:34The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General is conducting an investigation of these activities. This
04:42mishandling, in the view of most people I know, particularly professional officers, of classified information.
04:50and we all look forward to his independent and unbiased findings. And just hours ago, we learned
04:59of press reports that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz will be fired this week because of his own
05:06actions around the signal incident. If true, I welcome the message of accountability that it sends. Mr. Waltz made a
05:17significant mistake in adding a reporter to a sensitive signal chat, and his failure of judgment could have
05:24had serious national security consequences. But I respect that he took responsibility for his mistake, and paid the cost, apparently.
05:34In contrast, Secretary Hesda has refused to take responsibility for his own misconduct, in which my view was far more egregious than that of Mr. Waltz.
05:36Indeed, the fallout from this incident has further eroded the already dismal credibility that the Secretary brought to the Pentagon.
05:56The Secretary's inner circle of hand-picked advisors have nearly all resigned or been fired. His chief of staff
06:05was submissed amid allegations of incompetence and unsettling personal behavior. Three of his senior policy advisors
06:15were fired for allegedly leaking sensitive information, which they all staunchly deny.
06:22And his top spokesman resigned after losing confidence in the Secretary and writing, and I'll quote,
06:32the building is in disarray under Hegstead's leadership. And furthermore, quote, the last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon,
06:44and it's becoming a real problem for the administration. And this was the words of Secretary Hesda's self-selected
06:55top spokesperson. This chain of events is extraordinary and underscores the concerns I raised at Secretary Hesda's nomination hearing.
07:06He does not possess the temperament and management skills needed to lead the Pentagon, and he's proving that over and over.
07:14There have been multiple news reports that Secretary Hesda spends much of his day focused on perceived leaks and that he has become paranoid,
07:24lashing out at aides and senior military leaders convinced that they are undermining him. He has threatened his top military advisors,
07:34including then-acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Grady, and Joint Chiefs Director, General Simms,
07:42with polygraph tests in order to prove that these distinguished military leaders are not liars.
07:49Knowing the quality and the dedication of these gentlemen to the military, and particularly to their obligation for honesty and fidelity,
08:02I find it unusual that they would be receiving a lie-detector test. In fact, it might be interesting if the Secretary took a lie-detector test.
08:17The Secretary's office should be leading the Pentagon, allowing the rest of the department to be laser-focused on their missions.
08:24But again, President Trump and Secretary Hesda have made that very difficult due to the internal disarray they have created by firing key military leaders.
08:36These firings include the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commander of Cyber Command,
08:44the U.S. military representative to NATO, the Vice Chair of the Air Force, the Secretary of Defense Senior Military Aide,
08:53and the top uniformed lawyers, the Judge Advocate Generals of each of the military services.
09:01You know, one of the thoughts I had is, if you want to go ahead and do things that are beyond the law,
09:07the first thing you do is get rid of the lawyers. And that's the first thing he did.
09:12And these are not minor positions. They are vital to the department's mission.
09:17And when left unfilled, the military loses focus and missions are compromised.
09:23These officers were fired without a plan to replace them, which is crippling our military's effectiveness during a perilous time.
09:32More importantly, these officers were fired without explanation, which leads to the worst possible outcome for military force.
09:42Fear throughout the ranks that one should not speak up, should not refuse an illegal order,
09:51and should not call out abuse or question decisions.
09:57General and flag officers are charged with providing their unbiased, quote,
10:04best military advice to the civilian leaders of the Department of Defense.
10:09Service members, all the way down to young NCOs and enlisted personnel,
10:15are expected to give candid feedback to their leaders and peers.
10:20And commanders expect troops to give them the facts, straight and true, and their best advice,
10:26because lives are on the line.
10:28In fact, any good officer understands that his success and the success and indeed the lives of his troops
10:39are based so much on the advice, the insights of non-commissioned officers in his command.
10:50And if that spirit, that aspect of military life in which people can talk the truth to each other,
11:02is frustrated or essentially annulled, we are in a grave position.
11:09Now similarly, Congress expects candor from senior officers to provide their best judgment,
11:15without fear of retribution for both the security of our country
11:19and that of the two million servicemen and women who put themselves in harm's way.
11:25But firing officers as a political litmus test poisons this military ethos.
11:33It sends an immediate signal to troops that providing their unbiased, best military advice
11:38might have career-ending consequences.
11:41Now I'll take a brief moment to discuss the officers who have been dismissed.
11:47General C.Q. Brown served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
11:51and was fired without explanation, not even halfway into his four-year term.
11:57The first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be dismissed during his term of office.
12:06And this stretches back many decades.
12:09The office of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was designed by Congress to be such that it bridged elections.
12:18That it was not tied into elections.
12:22That it was far from elections.
12:26But one of the first steps that Trump and Hex had said is to break this custom, this tradition, really this value.
12:36When he was informed, he was visiting our troops on the southern border.
12:40And he was abruptly dismissed.
12:43Even without the courtesy of a call by the president or the secretary of his defense to say,
12:49I'm sorry, but you're leaving.
12:51General Brown served our nation honorably for more than four decades.
12:57He was a fighter pilot with multiple combat missions.
13:00And he led the Joint Chiefs of Staff with dedication and skill.
13:06By the way, the Senate approved his nomination by a vote of 83 to 11.
13:12Not exactly a vote for a controversial personality.
13:18To date, the Trump administration has given no justification for his dismissal.
13:24Seven full weeks passed without a confirmed chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
13:29General Dan Crane has now been confirmed and is working hard to get up to speed.
13:35Given what happened to his predecessor, General Crane must realize that in his additions to his duties as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
13:45he must also deal with the political intrigue consuming the Pentagon.
13:50I hope that General Crane will always provide the best military advice to the president and the secretary of defense,
13:57even if that advice is not what they would want to hear.
14:04Secretary Hegseth also dismissed Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who served as the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations.
14:15She was the first woman to lead the Navy and the first to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
14:22Admiral Franchetti served in leadership roles at every level throughout the Navy, both ashore and at sea,
14:29and with postings around the globe.
14:31She was a trailblazer, team builder, and inspiration to many.
14:37The Senate approved her nomination by a vote of 95 to 1,
14:43a strong endorsement from this body based on her record and her service.
14:48Again, the Trump administration has given no justification for her dismissal.
14:54To date, the administration has not nominated a new Chief of Naval Operations.
15:00It has been two months since Admiral Franchetti was dismissed,
15:04and the Navy remains without a Senate-confirmed Chief of Naval Operations,
15:09at a time when the service is involved in the most intensive combat operations since World War II,
15:18taking place today in the Red Sea.
15:21I was able to greet a destroyer returning from the Red Sea,
15:26and was informed that it had seen more action than any destroyer since World War II.
15:34General Timothy Hawke served as the commander of U.S. Cyber Command
15:39and the director of the National Security Agency.
15:43As the commander of Cyber Command,
15:45General Hawke led the most formidable cyber warfighting force in the world,
15:50responsible for detecting, deterring, and overseeing cyber operations against America's adversaries,
15:59particularly China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and various terrorist organizations.
16:07General Hawke had a distinguished 34-year career with the Air Force Cyber and Intelligence Organizations,
16:15including multiple command assignments.
16:18Indeed, I was impressed with not only his technical still, but his professionalism,
16:27his commitment to serving the nation, protecting the Constitution,
16:32and doing it with the skill, which is remarkable.
16:38I am extremely concerned that press reports indicate that Laura Loomer,
16:44a fringe conspiracy theorist, convince President Trump to remiss General Hawke,
16:52and fire a slew of expert staff at the National Security Council for no discernible reason.
16:59Now, when a radio personality can get into the President's office and convince him to fire an officer of General Hawke's demonstrated capacity,
17:18and others on the National Security Council, there's not only something wrong with that radio personality,
17:24there's something wrong with the President who would listen to that without consulting others.
17:31By the way, the Senate unanimously confirmed General Hawke to his post in December 2023,
17:39and once again, the Trump Administration has given no explanation for his dismissal.
17:46The Trump Administration has not selected a new Cyber Comm commander,
17:53and it's unclear if there's any sense of urgency to fill this position.
17:59Secretary Hegsitt has given a priceless gift to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea,
18:06by purging from our leadership one of our most vital national security commanders.
18:13Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield served as the United States military representative to NATO.
18:20She held a vital leadership role within the alliance, particularly as it related to coordinating international support to Ukraine.
18:29Admiral Chatfield was among the finest military officers our nation had to offer.
18:35with a 38-year career as a Navy helicopter pilot, foreign policy expert, and preeminent military educator,
18:44including as President of the Naval War College.
18:48The Senate unanimously confirmed Vice Admiral Chatfield to her post in December 2023.
18:56Again, the Trump Administration has given no justification for her dismissal and has not nominated any replacement to this critical posting at NATO.
19:09General James Slife was the U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, the second-highest-ranking officer in the Air Force.
19:18He spent most of his 36-year career as a Special Operations helicopter pilot, a daunting and dangerous pursuit.
19:29He deployed many times around the world and flew countless combat missions in perilous conditions.
19:35General Slife risked his life repeatedly for our nation and led its fellow Special Operators and Airmen with distinction.
19:44Again, the Senate unanimously confirmed General Slife to his post in December 2023.
19:53The Trump Administration has given no explanation for its dismissal, nor have they nominated any offers to help lead the Air Force.
20:05Lieutenant General Jennifer Short was the first female senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense.
20:13She advised the Secretary and served as a representative for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
20:19coordinating policy and operations across the Joint Staff, combatant commands, and with the U.S. Interagency.
20:27A command pilot with more than 1,800 flight hours, including more than 430 combat hours in an A-10,
20:38she flew in operations Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom,
20:44and commanded airmen at the Squadron, Wing, Major Command, and Combatant Command levels.
20:51The Senate unanimously confirmed her to her post.
20:56The Trump Administration has given no explanation for its dismissal.
21:01Finally, I'm deeply concerned by Secretary Hepson's dismissal of the Judge Advocates General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
21:10These officers, known as TJAGs, are the most senior uniformed officers in the military.
21:19These officers served more than 30 years in uniform as military lawyers.
21:24They were strictly apolitical and held fundamental roles, ensuring that balanced lawful counsel was part of every military policy discussion.
21:36These officers provided legal oversight that spanned military justice, operational law, administrative compliance, government ethics, and the United States' adherence to the law of armed conflict.
21:51These unprecedented firings, along with the firings of the Inspector General, should alarm everyone about the commitment of the President and the Secretary of Defense to follow the rule of law for the military, and also within the United States and across the world.
22:10Mr. President, the Defense Department is one of the most complex institutions in the world, with a budget of nearly $900 billion and a workforce of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel.
22:25It is an organization that requires strong leadership, stability, predictability, and trust.
22:32These qualities are critical because we ask the Department's men and women to risk their lives every day in the service of this country.
22:42Mr. President, those men and women who gave their lives, and all of those who are still serving at this moment, deserve the best.
22:51They deserve a leader who is truly laser-focused on readiness, lethality, and the missions.
23:00Not someone who treats his position as Secretary as a performance exercise, complete with a Twitter feed dominated with workout videos.
23:10Our service members deserve better.
23:13They deserve someone who is focused on them, not focused on himself.
23:18If Secretary Hegstead does not improve his job performance, the conditions at the Pentagon will continue to deteriorate,
23:25and something worse is bound to happen.
23:29I hope Secretary Hegstead takes note.
23:32Mr. President, I yield a full.
23:34Thank you for all the reasons.
23:37What have you been Stephenenn?
23:38国 and all these events have taken in time .
23:39...