Lawmakers Rush to Shield Top-Secret War Plan Discussions

Two Republicans have said that serious efforts are needed to protect the discussions about U.S. military plans.

Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally included in a group chat on a sensitive topic, namely, a possible military action in Yemen. He claimed he received an invite via an app to take part in the review.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) responded to reporters’ questions with an online comment that said: “Sounds a lot like a big mess-up. What else can I say?”

He said: “I hope the interagency will look into it because someone dropped the ball.”

The Hill reported on John Thune, the Senate Majority leader who promised a swift response. “We are just learning about it but we have to investigate it thoroughly and find out what happened.”

The South Dakota Republican told reporters that “we’ll have a strategy.”

The Hill reported on Democrat legislators accusing national security advisor Mike Waltz of using a commercial app to review military strategies and not ensuring who was invited.

According to The Hill, Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said that using an insecure app to discuss strategy for military operations “represents the most egregious failure of operational security and good sense I’ve ever seen.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told The Hill that it should not have happened and will never happen again.

He added, “Clearly, I believe the administration has admitted it was a misstep and will tighten up to ensure it doesn’t occur again.”