Nearly a dozen Democratic senators issued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a two-week deadline to provide answers for a series of “troubling allegations,” including that cuts to civilian harm prevention programs under his leadership may have contributed to at least 1,700 civilian deaths.
The demand was issued in the form of a letter, signed off on by 11 Democratic senators, and comes amid reports of significant civilian casualties in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. According to an Iranian official, at least 3,375 people have been killed from U.S.-Israeli strikes since Feb. 28, including 383 children.
The letter was also issued amid reports that Hegseth had made “deep cuts” to the Defense Department’s mitigation and response programs, and slashed staff at the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence by “more than 90%.”
“This is a concerning pattern and raises questions about whether the administration is upholding international law and the laws of war. We are also concerned that your leadership is further harming the credibility of our armed forces, exacerbating threats to civilians and U.S. servicemembers alike,” the letter reads.
“In the first week of the war, you said it would be fought with ‘no stupid rules of engagement.’ You have repeatedly derided ‘tepid legality.’ You declared that there would be ‘no quarter, no mercy for our enemies.’ International law and the [Defense Department’s] Law of War Manual explicitly forbid declaring that ‘no quarter will be given’ or threatening to conduct hostilities on that basis.”
The senators went on to demand that Hegseth provide specifics as to the extent of staff cuts to civilian harm prevention programs within the Defense Department, as well as what his agency was doing to prevent and mitigate civilian harm.