Who?
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) — Combat veteran; Armed Services & Veterans Affairs Committees
LISTEN: Laslo & Duckworth
Ask a Pol asks:
Curious your thoughts on the latest Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “scandal” — but more so the strikes that we’re seeing the US military do without congressional authorization against drug cartels?
Key Duckworth:
“We never had a debate on whether or not we’re even at war, right?” Duckworth exclusively tells Ask a Pol Politics. “The other aspect of this is, I worry about the servicemembers being put into jeopardy by this, right? We’re violating international laws of armed conflict. We are putting servicemembers in legal jeopardy.”
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Caught our ear:
“The first thing you learn as an Army officer — which [Hegseth] supposedly was — is that you can always delegate authority, but you never can delegate responsibility,” Duckworth tells us. “The responsibility rests with him. It is incredibly offensive, and I think it sends a message to the troops that this president, this Sec Def [Secretary of Defense] is willing to throw you under the bus.”
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (12-3-25)
SCENE: After voting on the Senate floor, Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s taking one of the underground tunnel’s in the US Capitol back to her office across the street when Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo catches the Senator for a quick conversation.
Matt Laslo: “I’m curious your thoughts on the Hegseth stuff, but more so the strikes that we’re seeing the US military do without congressional authorization and against drug cartels…”
Tammy Duckworth: “I mean, we never had a debate on whether or not we’re even at war, right? And the other aspect of this is, I worry about the servicemembers being put into jeopardy by this, right?”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Duckworth: “We’re violating international laws of armed conflict. We are, you know, putting servicemembers in legal jeopardy. And that for me is, you know, I don’t expect — Hegseth, I knew, we’ve always known, I’ve always known he’s not qualified for the job.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Duckworth: “And that, you know, he’s not about lying, about lying to Congress, which he has done multiple times.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Duckworth: “So has Donald Trump. So for me, my focus right now is, what are we doing to our servicemembers? We’re putting them in real jeopardy…”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Duckworth: “…both legally and also personally. I mean, you know, if we’re going to do this in international waters, what’s to keep some other country from saying, ‘hey, look, we’ll do this to the US.’”
Laslo: “Yeah? Well, now it seems like the White House and Hegseth trying to put the blame on this guy [commander] in the field.”
Duckworth: “Yeah, you know what? One of the first things you learn as an Army officer — which, you know, he supposedly was — is that you can always delegate authority, but you never can delegate responsibility. The responsibility rests with him.”
Laslo: “Yeah? Is that offensive watching that?”
Duckworth: “It is incredibly offensive, and it sends a message to the troops that this president, this Sec Def [Secretary of Defense] is willing to throw you under the bus.”
Laslo: “Yeah? Thank you, ma’am.”
What should we ask Congress next?
AI Disclosure: Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape.
