‘This Is a Quote from You’: Pete Hegseth Throws Senator Under the Bus for Spilling ‘Classified’ Secrets, Then the Tape Rolled and Pete Hasn’t Said a Word Since
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is picking another public fight with Sen. Mark Kelly. But the clash already appears headed toward self-inflicted embarrassment. The same kind that followed Hegseth’s earlier attempt to punish the retired Navy captain for encouraging troops not to follow illegal orders.
Days after a federal appeals court questioned his retaliation effort against Sen. Mark Kelly, Pete Hegseth demanded another investigation into him. Hegseth accused the Arizona Democrat of leaking classified information about rebuilding U.S. weapons stockpiles after the Iran war.
Kelly responded that the details came directly from Hegseth’s own public Senate testimony.
The clash quickly turned into a fresh example of Hegseth aggressively demanding investigations while appearing to overlook that the information in question had already come from his own mouth.
The dispute centered on Kelly’s warning that the United States has burned through large amounts of key munitions during the Iran war, raising concerns about how prepared the country would be for another major conflict.
The confrontation also revived broader criticism of Hegseth’s combative management style and his growing pattern of targeting political opponents with investigations that critics say blur the line between national security enforcement and political retaliation.
Hegseth ignited the latest fight Sunday evening after Kelly appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and addressed depleted munitions.
“It’s been pretty detailed on Tomahawks, ATACMS, SM-3, THAAD rounds, Patriot rounds, those interceptor rounds to defend ourselves,” Kelly said during the interview. “And the numbers are, I think it’s fair to say it’s shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines, because this president got our country into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline, and because of that, we’ve expended a lot of munitions.”
Kelly added that replenishing those weapons would take years.
That prompted Hegseth to accuse the Arizona Democrat of improperly discussing classified information.
“‘Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again,” Hegseth wrote on X. Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a ‘CLASSIFIED’ Pentagon briefing he received. Did he violate his oath…again? @DeptofWar legal counsel will review.”
Kelly quickly responded by posting video from an April 30 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in which Hegseth himself acknowledged that replenishing certain U.S. weapons stockpiles would take “months and years.”
“We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take ‘years’ to replenish some of these stockpiles,” Kelly wrote of Hegseth’s remarks. “That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you. This war is coming at a serious cost and you and the president still haven’t explained to the American people what the goal is.”
The exchange immediately fueled criticism online, where many argued that Kelly was simply carrying out his oversight responsibilities as a senator on both the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees.
“He’s a sitting US senator, it’s part of his job to question things like this,” one person wrote on Yahoo! comments.
Others argued the information Kelly referenced had already become widely understood as the Iran conflict dragged on and reports surfaced about shrinking American stockpiles.
“Congressman Kelly only stated the obvious that has already been reported on by many sources already. 1st Amendments rules here, not the inept, unqualified Hegseth, possible war criminal.”
Other posts mocked Hegseth’s attempt to pursue yet another dubious investigation against Kelly.
The underlying issue Kelly raised has already become a growing concern inside defense circles. CNN previously reported that the U.S. military has significantly depleted several categories of precision munitions during the war with Iran, creating what officials described as a “near-term risk” should another major conflict erupt within the next few years.
An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found the U.S. had used roughly half of several key missile stockpiles, including THAAD and Patriot interceptors, figures sources told CNN closely matched classified Pentagon assessments.
Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official now serving as a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said Hegseth appeared more focused on attacking Kelly over classification claims than responding to the larger national security concerns being raised.
“Let’s put aside that the general thrust of munition depletion is not classified, and Kelly did not go near the details. For Hegseth to bicker over classification rather than address the core argument Kelly makes suggests Hegseth simply can’t argue on the facts,” Rubin said, according to The Hill. “It’s the national security equivalent of going ad hominem on a debate opponent when you’re poorly matched on knowledge, ability and content.”
The clash also marked the second time Hegseth has attempted to pursue action against Kelly this year.
Earlier, Kelly sued Hegseth after the defense secretary announced plans for administrative punishment tied to a November video in which Kelly and several other Democratic lawmakers urged troops to refuse illegal orders. Hegseth sought measures that included reducing Kelly’s retired military rank and issuing a formal letter of censure.
Last week, however, a federal appeals court panel appeared deeply skeptical of the Pentagon’s attempt to revive those penalties after a lower court judge blocked them earlier this year as unconstitutional retaliation.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties are demanding clearer explanations about long-term strategy, military readiness, and the strain the conflict has placed on U.S. weapons reserves.
More online reactions mocked the idea that the stockpile issue was somehow top secret after it was widely reported.
“Investigating Kelly for something that is already common knowledge. With the amount of bombs and missles they’ve used on Iran in the past year it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the 1.5 trillion Defense budget they are asking for is to replenish the stockpile.”
Another reaction reduced the increasingly personal feud to a hard jab aimed directly at Hegseth himself.
“Sit petey. Put the bottle down.”