On Thursday, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced a review regarding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to discuss military operations targeting Houthi militants in Yemen. This review will also examine the usage of the encrypted app by other defense department officials. The Signal app, while accessible to the public, does not meet the requirements for handling classified materials and isn’t integrated into the secure communications network of the Defense Department.
Attention was drawn to Hegseth’s usage of the app when Jeffrey Goldberg, a journalist with The Atlantic, was accidentally included in a Signal message group by Mike Waltz, the national security adviser. This group discussion, which included figures such as Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was convened to plan military actions against the Iranian-backed Houthis set for March 15.
The objective, according to acting inspector general Steven Stebbins, is to assess compliance with Defense Department policies on using commercial messaging apps for official matters. Additionally, the review will also investigate whether the communications adhered to classification and record-keeping guidelines.
The legal obligation for Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration is to ensure that official conversations are archived, raising uncertainties about whether these Signal discussions were saved to an official email for permanent federal record-keeping. The Pentagon has directed inquiries to the inspector general’s office due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
When President Donald Trump was questioned about the review, he expressed discontentment, dismissing the topic as an unimportant story. In the disclosed message chain, Hegseth had provided specifics on the timing of warplane deploys and bombings, even before those executing the operations were airborne.
The initiation of the review followed a request from Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, along with Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s senior Democrat. In various congressional hearings, Democratic members raised concerns about the use of Signal in military discussions and questioned whether it was suitable for such sensitive dialogue.
Despite the Trump administration denying any classified data was exchanged, both former and present military officials believe the level of detail shared was likely classified. In the face of calls for dismissal, Waltz stands defended by President Trump. On the same day, Trump dismissed several members of Waltz’s staff after being prompted by Laura Loomer, a far-right activist, who accused them of lacking loyalty to Trump’s agenda.
During a Senate confirmation hearing, Trump’s appointee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, refrained from directly criticizing the choice of communication but emphasized the importance of maintaining the element of surprise in military operations.