“A launch of an attack there is just no-way, no-how, that an American #military operation starting off is going to not be #classified for Lord's sake," retired Marine Lt. Col. Mick Wagoner said.

And #Hegseth's #defense also tacitly confirms that he shared those details w/people, like his wife, he knew were not authorized to have the information.

"If you remember…I said no one is texting war plans," #Hegseth said on FauxNews. "What was shared over #Signal then [during the first leak, which surfaced last month] & now was informal, unclassified coordinations for media coordination [&] other things."

But the details he shared, 2hrs before airstrikes hit in Yemen, almost certainly were #classified, acc/to ret Marine Lt Col Mick Wagoner, who was a #military lawyer for 17 years & deployed to 4 war zones.

So just to recap: #Republicans have largely stood back & stood by in recent weeks as the #Pentagon has been thrown into #chaos & as #Trump’s #tariffs have thrown the #economy into disarray.

If anything reinforces Trump’s dominion over the #GOP, it’s that. The economy & #NationalSecurity are issues lawmakers tend to regard as among their most sacred & important, but even they apparently don’t rise to the level of doing something.

It’s not just that #GOP lawmakers are not calling for #PeteHegseth’s ouster (with one notable exception); it’s that they don’t even seem interested in getting to the bottom of the readily apparent discord in the #Pentagon.

And perhaps most tellingly, #Republican elected officials have again shown almost no interest in asserting themselves even as the situation entails one of the gravest issues under their purview, #NationalSecurity.

Sen #RogerWicker (R-MS) rebuked #Hegseth for telegraphing concessions #Ukraine would need to make to end the war. He even suggestively said that #PeteHegseth “wasn’t my choice for the job,” despite voting to confirm him.…

Just >2 months later, though, Hegseth’s mistakes just keep piling up. Yet a Republican congressional contingent that has shown precious little interest in oversight of #Trump & his admin has shown almost no interest in asserting itself in this matter.

#Rubio accused the bureau for population, #refugees & #migration of sending millions of taxpayer dollars to nongovernment groups that had promoted mass migration, including “the invasion on our southern border.” The language echoed #Trump’s, & Rubio did not provide evidence for any of his assertions.

On a new #State Department account on Substack on Tuesday, #MarcoRubio wrote that the bureau for #democracy, #HumanRights & #labor had become a “platform for left-wing activists to wage vendettas” against conservative leaders — including those in Poland, Hungary & Brazil — & to try to promote an arms embargo against Israel.

The New York Times reported on Sunday on a draft document labeled an “executive order” that outlined plans for a drastic restructuring of the #State department, including cutting the entire office of the under secretary for #civilian #security, #democracy & #HumanRights & many other parts of the agency.

#Trump #NationalSecurity #law #ConspiracyTheories #USpol #TrumpPurge #TrumpCoup
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/us/politics/trump-state-department-overhaul.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=A2810FE2-C5BE-44FF-BD1A-DF09F1C597DE

The State department released an internal fact sheet that provided more details on Mr. Rubio’s plan, including reducing the agency’s total number of offices from 734 to 602, or by 17%. It also said that Mr. Rubio had instructed senior officials to deliver plans soon to reduce the number of U.S.-based employees by 15%.

Some elements of that office, including a bureau for #democracy & #HumanRights & one for #refugees, would be cut & *folded into* an office for foreign assistance & #humanitarian aid [the same one they folded #USAID into] acc/to the reorganization chart posted on the #State Department website.

In the announcement, #MarcoRubio did not give more information on the ideology or ideas to which he objected, but the chart & a Substack post revealed some of his thinking. The most drastic change is the elimination of the office of the under secretary for #civilian #security, #democracy & #HumanRights, which is charged with advancing American values around the world.

#MarcoRubio released the plan in the form of an organizational chart and a brief official #statement, w/few other details. The move is the latest by #Trump’s admin to downsize & reshape the government to a degree unseen in generations, which critics have called a shortsightedly blunt assault on the federal bureaucracy.

As #HomelandSecurity secretary, #KristiNoem runs a department that is in charge of the nation’s #security. Its responsibilities include border control & immigration, terrorism protection & cybersecurity.