'Unfit to lead': When Democrat Salud Carbajal tore into Pete Hegseth

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has faced sharp criticism for his handling of the Iran war and the Department of Defense. While many U.S. politicians have raised questions over his conduct recently, Rep. Salud Carbajal had sounded the alarm over Hegseth being unfit to lead a year ago. During a budget hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Carbajal called the Secretary of War an "embarrassment" and demanded his resignation over several issues. The Democratic leader claimed Hegseth wasn't qualified to take the leadership position, and said that he should just get the "hell out" of the department. 

Carbajal, a Marine Corps veteran, began his line of questioning by pointing to Hegseth's decision to relay the launch time of Military jets set to strike Houthi targets in March via two Signal group chats, using his personal phone. He also raised questions on Hegseth's view of Russia, NATO, and the need for U.S. service members to be politically inclined with President Donald Trump. After Hegseth failed to share satisfactory answers, Carbajal tore into the War Secretary, saying, "I have called for your resignation. I didn't think you were qualified before your confirmation, and you have done nothing to inspire confidence in your ability to lead competently."

As he was running out of time, Carbajal made scathing remarks to conclude his opinion on Hegseth. "You know what? I'm not going to waste my time anymore. You're not worthy of my attention or my questions. You're an embarrassment to this country, you're unfit to lead, and there have been bipartisan members of Congress who have called for your resignation." He went on to add: "You should just get the hell out and let somebody competently lead this department," before the panel's chair, Rep. Mike Rogers, called for decorum. 

Hegseth has emerged as Democrats' top target in the Trump Cabinet, over his handling of the Iran war and reported firing of numerous service members, including the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Randy George. Polls have shown Hegseth is among the least popular members of the Cabinet, and Democratic Representative Yassamin Ansari has even vowed to introduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth. Ansari said she will bring the motion in the next week against the War Secretary for "repeatedly violating his oath of office and his duty to the Constitution."  She claimed Hegseth's "reckless endangerment of U.S. servicemembers and repeated war crimes" are grounds enough to remove him from office. 

Meanwhile, both President Trump and Hegseth have continued to escalate tensions in the Iran conflict. After Trump issued a deadline of 8 p.m. ET Tuesday for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane for global oil supply, he defended his threats of striking civilian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, if Tehran failed to comply. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said the U.S. has a plan "where every bridge in Iran will be decimated" by midnight Wednesday and "where every power ​plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again." When asked about the actions being war crimes, the President said,  "I'm not worried about it. You know what a war crime is? Having a nuclear weapon," ​Reuters reported. Hegseth further chimed in to share an update, claiming the heaviest of strikes were set to take place on Monday, and on Tuesday, there would be even more.