'Fire him' Raphael Warnock calls for Pete Hegseth's removal as Democrats ramp up pressure

Ten Democratic lawmakers on Sunday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth elaborating how his gutting of a program focused on protecting civilians is a leadership failure that puts people in harm's way and damages the U.S. military's moral standing. While Hegseth has been largely quiet since President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran to end the war, the new allegations based on a report from the DoD Inspector General have sparked fresh criticism, with Sen. Raphael Warnock renewing calls for the Defense Secretary's removal.

Led by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, several members of Congress are pressing Hegseth on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) defunding and deprioritizing of programs that prevent and respond to civilian harm in war. The letter comes after a report from the DoD Inspector General (DoD IG) found that under Hegseth, the DoD put service members and civilians at risk, and potentially violated federal law. Following the development, Warnock, who strongly opposed Hegseth's appointment last year, demanded that he be fired. 

The DoD IG report released in May reviewed the DoD’s implementation of its Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) Action Plan (CHMR-AP), which outlined critical steps to prevent, mitigate, and respond to civilian harm. The report found that the Trump administration defunded and blocked civilian protection efforts, potentially by breaking federal law. The report confirmed that the objectives of the action plan, including training for assessing and investigating civilian harm, are currently “at risk” under Hegseth’s leadership. The report also found that the administration failed to implement the plan, which is a failure to comply with congressionally mandated obligations to protect civilians during armed conflict.  “These revelations make real the concerns that we have previously raised about your complete ‘disregard for the strategic, legal, and moral imperative to minimize civilian harm,’” the lawmakers said in the letter. 

The Trump administration's withdrawal from civilian protection drew global attention for the first time in February when an alleged U.S. strike killed dozens of children and teachers at a school in Iran on the first day of the war.  It also follows the recent strikes on Iranian water treatment facilities, which impacted access to drinking water for thousands of civilians, as per ProPublica.  “The Trump administration’s military adventurism overseas, combined with its obvious disregard for civilians, does not make the American people or our service members safer. We request clarification about the steps the Department is taking to address these deficiencies and to protect civilians in line with the Department’s strategic, legal, and moral obligations,” the lawmakers added in the letter. 

Meanwhile, on the war front, Iran's military fired fresh strikes which threaten to unravel the MoU signed less than three weeks ago under which both nations agreed to halt the attacks. Citing U.S. officials, Axios reported that  Iran fired at least two missiles at commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night. While two vessels suffered significant damage, no casualties were reported. This comes after a one-week agreement between the two nations on halting the attacks expired, and the U.S. is now likely to retaliate with strikes against Iran, as per the publication.