Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) on Wednesday launched a petition through his Patriotic PAC group to pressure the Trump administration into firing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who is facing scrutiny from Congress over his department’s authorization of strikes against alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela.
Ryan has suggested Hegseth may have committed war crimes in the Caribbean strike operations and other “dangerous” actions since taking office.
“From day one, Pete Hegseth has not only been a disgrace but dangerous,” the congressman and Army veteran said in a video. “He came in, purged senior military officers, politicized our troops, leaked classified war plans that put the mission at risk, put pilots’ lives at risk.”
The “Fire Hegseth” petition lays out why he feels the Cabinet secretary has been “unqualified and unfit,” starting with the sexual assault allegations that threatened to derail his Senate confirmation hearing.
The website also details Hegseth’s decision to fire officers and lawyers in the United States military, his involvement in the Signalgate scandal, and the domestic deployment of troops to major U.S. cities.
The effort is backed by the Patriotic PAC Fund, which Ryan created in September to cast Democrats as “the patriotic party, the party of service” during the second Trump administration.
The petition is unlikely to gain any traction, considering President Donald Trump continues to support Hegseth publicly despite media reports to the contrary.
“I read a story that I’m unhappy with Pete because he was attacking drug dealers,” Trump said on Wednesday during a roundtable discussion at the White House. “I would say very much the opposite. Pete Hegseth has been phenomenal.”
In recent weeks, Hegseth came under fire after the Washington Post reported he personally ordered Navy Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley to kill all “narco-terrorists” on an alleged drug vessel near the coast of Trinidad and Tobago in September. The vessel was struck twice because Bradley was reportedly concerned the survivors could call for rescue. A Navy SEAL team was deployed to finish the job.
Testifying before Congress in a classified briefing last week, Bradley denied Hegseth had given him a “kill them all” order as reported. Hegseth has said the same.
HEGSETH DOESN’T RULE OUT USING SIGNAL AGAIN FOR MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS
Regarding the Signalgate scandal, the Department of War’s Office of Inspector General released a final report that concluded the Pentagon chief shared “sensitive, nonpublic, operational information” over the Signal encrypted messaging app while clearing him of any allegations that he broke the law.
Congress has been particularly critical of Hegseth’s leak of classified military information, as it could have damaged national security. After the release of the inspector general’s report, Hegseth didn’t rule out using Signal again for communicating before combat operations.