(Photo from Senator Wicker on X)
- After requesting an inquiry into the group chat gone wrong, Senate Armed Services Committee chair says he and the Defense Secretary “have a strong partnership, and that will continue.”
Since the “Signal-gate” news broke earlier this week, Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R) has been at the center of multiple news stories as the media in D.C. and beyond scurry for reactions.
It was made public that national security officials used the app to discuss military strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen earlier this month and that an editor with The Atlantic was included in the group chat. The Atlantic has since published the contents of the chat.
The White House has largely defended their national security team as congressional Democrats have rushed to excoriate President Donald Trump over the incident.
In his role as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Wicker is the top Republican overseeing the military, working closely with the Department of Defense to ensure readiness and operational efficiency.
Headlines related to Wicker’s response to the group chat gone wrong have ranged from “Senators overseeing the military request an investigation at the Pentagon into use of the Signal app” by the Associated Press to “Top GOP senator seeks watchdog probe into Signal chat leak” by CBS News.
On Friday, Senator Wicker sought to instill confidence in his relationship with the President and the Secretary of Defense, writing on X, “The Beltway press will try to make it seem otherwise, but it bears remembering: Pete Hegseth and I are working in lockstep to deliver on President Trump’s promise to restore peace through strength. We have a strong partnership, and that will continue.”
Wicker and Hegseth appeared together just last week at a visit with Mississippi National Guard Soldiers at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Tupelo prior to a veterans’ support event where the Secretary was the headline speaker.
As of Wednesday, Senator Wicker and Democratic and Ranking Member Jack Reed of Rhode Island had sent a letter to the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Defense “regarding their bipartisan concern and interest about the Signal group chat involving senior members of the Trump Administration.”
The two requested the Acting Inspector General to conduct an inquiry and provide them with answers to what was communicated in the chat along with any remedial actions taken as a result. The Senators also requested an assessment of DOD classification and declassification policies and an assessment of whether any individuals transferred classified information, including operational details, from classified systems to unclassified systems, among other points of interest.
Senator Wicker stated earlier this week that while the information he has read contained in the group chat should have been classified, he believes the administration can rectify the mistake.
“I make a lot of mistakes in my life, and I’ve found that it’s best when I just own up to them and say, ‘I’m human. I made a mistake,’ and I’m glad in this case, no real damage was done… I think that that’s probably going to be the approach of the administration right up to the president,” Wicker said, as reported by The Hill on Wednesday. “The fact is that the plans for the strike, the timing, the locations, were not revealed to the enemy, and it was a very successful operation… If early on in this administration, there were mistakes, I would hope they can be rectified.”
Frank Corder
