President Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded on Sunday to a social media post by CBS News ‘Face the Nation’ host Margaret Brennan.
Brennan wrote: “After hearing the Pentagon classified brief on Iran war impact on US weapons stockpiles, Senator Mark Kelly says it is ‘shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines.’ He said the Tomahawks, ATACMS, SM-3, THAAD rounds, Patriot rounds, so those interceptor rounds to defend ourselves have been hit hard. He says it’ll take years to replenish those stockpiles, which could affect a hypothetical US conflict with China.”
Hegseth replied to Brennan’s post: “‘Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again. Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a *CLASSIFIED* Pentagon briefing he received. Did he violate his oath…again?” Hegseth added a threat: “@DeptofWar legal counsel will review.”
“Captain” Mark Kelly strikes again.
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. https://t.co/mPBZHxZqpr
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) May 10, 2026
Critics of the Trump administration are slamming Hegseth for his remarks, including former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who replied to Hegseth: “You’re an actor. You’re playing Secdef. At least try to play a good one.”
The influential X account Republicans Against Trump also replied to Hegseth: “He’s going to beat you in court, you absolute clown.”
Kelly himself replied to Hegseth with the video below and wrote: “We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take ‘years’ to replenish some of these stockpiles. 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.”
We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take “years” to replenish some of these stockpiles. 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… https://t.co/q3wX9AjRzO pic.twitter.com/5q7Gg81Xtg
— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) May 11, 2026
Washington Post military affairs correspondent Dan Lamothe also joined the discussion, writing: “Secretary Hegseth is again threatening Sen. Mark Kelly with legal action here. In this case, the comments from Kelly that Hegseth is claiming are an issue do not address specific munition numbers. That’s generally where classification comes into play. No sign of that here.”