[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 53 (Monday, March 24, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S1792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          The Atlantic Report

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, earlier today, The Atlantic magazine 
released a stunning and alarming report about the accidental leaking of 
the Trump administration's coordination on classified military 
operations targeting the Houthis in Yemen. According to the report, a 
member of the press was somehow added to an unsecured text chain with 
the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, 
the CIA Director, and other national security officials. The text chain 
was not a secure conversation. The app used is not approved for 
discussing classified military operations. Nevertheless, on this text 
chain, conversations went at length about imminent military operations, 
including specific targets, weapons, and attack plans. These text 
messages very likely included classified U.S. intelligence. The entire 
time, nobody seemed to realize that a private citizen without security 
clearance had access to this conversation.
  This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence 
that I have read about in a very, very long time. What we have here are 
senior U.S. leaders, including the Vice President and Secretary of 
Defense, having classified discussions of military action over an 
unsecure app.
  It is bad enough that a private citizen was added to this chain, but 
it is far worse that sensitive military information was exchanged on an 
unauthorized application, especially when that sensitive military 
information was so, so important.
  If these detailed exchanges about coordinating military operations 
fell into the hands of America's enemies, it could get people killed; 
it could severely harm our military; it would put America's national 
security in danger.
  This debacle requires a full investigation into how this happened, 
the damage it created, and how we can avoid it in the future. If our 
Nation's military secrets are being peddled around over unsecured text 
chains, we need to know that at once, and we need to put a stop to it 
immediately. Every single Senator, Republican and Democrat and 
Independent, must demand accountability.
  If a government employee shared sensitive military plans like this, 
they would be investigated and face very harsh consequences. Again, 
this kind of carelessness is how people get killed; it is how our 
enemies can take advantage of us; it is how our national security falls 
into danger.
  If you were up in arms over unsecured emails years ago, you should 
certainly be outraged by this amateurish behavior.
  I ask that Leader Thune and my Republican colleagues work with 
Democrats right away to hold a full investigation into why these 
military operations were coordinated over an unauthorized messaging 
service instead of the secure communications channels funded by 
taxpayers.
  I want to finish with this: When Pete Hegseth came before the Senate 
as a nominee, Democrats warned that something like this might happen. 
These people are clearly not up for the job. We warned that confirming 
them was dangerous, that they would behave recklessly. Unfortunately, 
we were right. Now we must have accountability, and both parties in the 
Senate should investigate how this blunder was even possible.