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House GOP Blocks Oversight Votes on Hegseth’s Signal Use Until Fall

Speaker Mike Johnson leads a party-line effort to suspend Democrats’ resolutions of inquiry, halting investigations into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s handling of classified information.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson at the Capitol on April 10, 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at news conference in Washington, DC, on April 29, 2025.

Overview

  • House Republicans passed a rules package on April 29, 2025, suspending Democrats’ ability to force votes on resolutions of inquiry until September 30.
  • The move shields Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Trump administration from investigations into the handling of classified information on the Signal app, known as 'Signalgate.'
  • Resolutions of inquiry, a key minority party tool for demanding executive branch documents, are now effectively blocked for over five months.
  • Speaker Mike Johnson defended the procedural change as a measure to prevent political stunts, while some GOP members, including Rep. Don Bacon, expressed concerns about transparency and accountability.
  • Democrats, led by Reps. Adam Smith, Stephen Lynch, and Gregory Meeks, had filed resolutions seeking records on Hegseth’s Signal communications and military operations in Yemen.