1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

The integrity of our military and the safety of our service members is understandably top of mind. The best way to honor the men and women who serve bravely in our military, putting their lives on the line to defend our rights and freedoms, is to immediately call for the removal of Pete Hegseth, the most incompetent and dangerous Secretary of Defense ever. Less than a year into his role, Hegseth has proven to be thoroughly unfit to serve as Secretary of Defense. What is perhaps most remarkable about Hegseth’s short tenure is the frequency of scandal that has plagued the Department of Defense under his leadership, with Hegseth being directly responsible for many of them. The most recent of these is the murder of helpless civilians in international waters, a violation of U.S. law. They were not charged with or convicted of any crime and yet were summarily killed by the U.S. military under Hegseth’s watch and with his approval. He should be held accountable for murder. The DOD Office of Inspector General also recently issued its report on Hegseth’s use of an insecure messaging app to share classified information earlier this year, finding that Hegseth violated policy and jeopardized the lives of U.S. military personnel. Hegseth has announced that he intends to make it harder for women to anonymously file anonymous discrimination and harassment complaints, which will likely lead to higher rates of sexual assault inside the DoD. Through his actions and statements, he has caused immeasurable harm to our brave service members and undermined our fighting readiness. Pete Hegseth is a national disgrace and needs to go. For the sake of our service members and to protect our national security, publicly call for Hegseth’s removal or take steps to remove him yourself.