WASHINGTON

Democrats in the US Congress pressed President Donald Trump on Thursday to remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"Now do Hegseth," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on X.

His remarks came after Trump announced Thursday that he was nominating his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, to be the next US ambassador to the UN.

Waltz came under scrutiny in March after he mistakenly included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, in a Signal app group chat where Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth and other senior officials discussed plans for an attack on Houthi targets in Yemen.

In April, local media reported that Hegseth shared Yemen attack details in a second Signal chat, which included his wife Jennifer, brother Phil and personal lawyer Tim Parlatore. However, the Pentagon rejected the reports, calling them "garbage."

Also, it was reported that Hegseth allegedly ordered the installation of the Signal app on a desktop in his Pentagon office.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Waltz is "a fall guy."

"His firing comes as the Secretary of Defense is jeopardizing servicemembers’ lives with his security breaches. Hegseth should be fired & it should happen today," Blumenthal said on X.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Hegseth "shows real leadership by passing the blame" to Waltz.

"Was it Waltz who set up Signal on Hegseth's office computer and added his wife, brother, and lawyer in a war plan group chat?" she said on X.

Sen. Adam Schiff said on X that it took more than a month for Trump "to hold anyone accountable for the Signalgate fiasco. Next up should be Pete Hegseth.”

Senators Ed Markey and Peter Welch echoed their Democratic colleagues, saying: "Hegseth should be next."

Waltz, a 51-year-old former Republican lawmaker from Florida, will need the Senate's backing to become the UN envoy.