Democrats grill Trump officials over Signal leak | The Excerpt
On Wednesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN Congress Reporter Savannah Kuchar discusses the reaction on Capitol Hill following a report that secret plans for U.S. airstrikes were discussed in a group chat on the encrypted messaging platform Signal. Russia and Ukraine agree to a sea and energy truce. President Donald Trump signs an executive order requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Paste BN Senior Reporter Jessica Guynn explains how some federal workers have had a rocky return to the office.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Wednesday, March 26th, 2025. This is The Excerpt.
Today, we'll look at the response to a report that plans for US airstrikes were discussed in a group chat on the messaging platform, Signal. Plus Russia and Ukraine agreed to a sea and energy truce. And how the return to the office has been chaotic for some federal workers.
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Democratic lawmakers grilled top Trump administration officials yesterday amid fallout from a report that secret plans for US airstrikes were discussed in a group chat on the encrypted messaging platform, Signal, that included a journalist. Editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, reported Monday that he had been added accidentally to the chat titled 'Houthi PC Small Group' ahead of a US attack on Iran-backed Houthi sites in Yemen on March 15th. I caught up with Paste BN Congress reporter, Savannah Kuchar, to get a sense of how this landed on Capitol Hill this week.
Hello, Savannah.
Savannah Kuchar:
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for hopping on. Busy week. How did Democrats specifically go after this administration yesterday over this breach?
Savannah Kuchar:
There's been a variety of responses and Democrats looking for answers. As my colleague, Tom Vanden Brook, reported some top Democrats in the house sent a letter asking questions about what happened. And then over on the Senate side, there was a hearing by the Senate Intelligence Committee. It was already scheduled and just so happened to follow The Atlantic's report and featured Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, two of the people who were reportedly in that group chat. And so they had a lot of questions from Democrats looking for answers about why this group chat existed, how a journalist was inadvertently added, and particularly whether or not that they believed classified information was shared on this platform. And they repeatedly denied that. And so Democrats, in a sense, were calling their bluff and asking them to see transcripts of these texts.
Taylor Wilson:
So on that point, I mean, we've heard a lot about the dangers of potentially classified information here, Savannah, what did officials say specifically yesterday about whether there was classified or dangerous national security information in this Signal chat?
Savannah Kuchar:
That is the question in Tuesday's Senate hearing. Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe said repeatedly they were not aware of classified material being shared. Whether that means they don't believe it was classified or they don't recall remains to be seen. But right now, that is something that's still trying to be determined.
Taylor Wilson:
And we know that Republican lawmakers are promising an investigation. Savannah, what's the latest on that and what will that entail?
Savannah Kuchar:
What it will entail remains to be seen. But what we do know is, again, at that Tuesday Senate hearing, another witness who was there was FBI Director, Kash Patel, who said, in response to questions of whether there will be an investigation, he said he has been briefed on the matter Monday evening and Tuesday morning. So we'll see what comes of that. And also, in one of her answers, Tulsi Gabbard told senators that she didn't want to go into specifics about what happened because the matter is currently under review by the National Security Council.
Taylor Wilson:
So as for President Donald Trump, what are we hearing from him this week? How is he approaching this news?
Savannah Kuchar:
Definitely, we were waiting to see how the president would respond, whether coming to his top officials' defense or whether he would be demanding resignations or some other punishment. So far he seems to be backing his people. In an interview with NBC News Tuesday, Trump said, "Michael Waltz", who is the National Security Advisor, quote, "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson and he's a good man." So at least for now, it seems like he's standing behind his officials.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. I don't think this will be the last that we'll hear from this story. Savannah Kuchar covers Congress for Paste BN. Thank you, Savannah.
Savannah Kuchar:
Thank you, Taylor.
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Taylor Wilson:
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News last night, he took full responsibility for inviting a reporter onto the Signal app chat of Trump administration officials discussing plans for a looming military strike on the Houthis in Yemen. Waltz said on The Ingraham Angle, "It's embarrassing. We're going to get to the bottom of it." You can stay up on all the latest with usatoday.com.
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The US has reached separate deals with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks at sea and against energy targets. And the US agreed to move to lift some sanctions against Russia. The agreements marked the first formal commitment by the two warring nations. Since the start of the second Trump administration, Trump is pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine. But what some see as a rapid cozying with Moscow has alarmed Kyiv and some leaders across Europe. The deals were reached after talks in Saudi Arabia that followed separate phone calls last week between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday that looks to force sweeping changes on how elections are conducted across the nation, including establishing new voter identification requirements to prove US citizenship to vote in federal elections. The order which is expected to face challenges in court by voting rights groups comes as Trump continues to push baseless claims of voter fraud to argue the 2020 election was stolen from him. Non-US citizens are already not allowed to vote in federal elections, but under the order, The National Mail Voter Registration Form will require that applicants provide either a US passport, a REAL ID driver's license, or state issued card compliant with REAL ID standards, or a valid federal or state government issued photo identification. The order directs states and local election officials to record and verify the documents proving US citizenship and threatens to withhold federal election related funds from states that do not comply. The directive also instructs Trump's Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to take all necessary steps to ensure states do not count absentee ballots that arrive after election day. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
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Return to office for some federal workers has been chaotic. I spoke with Paste BN's senior reporter, Jessica Guynn, for more.
Hello, Jessica.
Jessica Guynn:
Hi, Taylor.
Taylor Wilson:
So let's just start by talking about this military base you referenced in this piece. And I mean, what's happening amid an apparently rocky return to work there?
Jessica Guynn:
Well, I spoke with a defense department employee who went back to work full-time at an army base in the Midwest and basically walked into mayhem. There are not enough desks or parking spots to go around. So people are working at card tables, they're driving in circles on the base, looking for spots to park and trying to dodge base cops who are handing out parking tickets. They have to rely on food trucks showing up because otherwise there's nowhere to get a snack or eat lunch because the cafeteria shut down so long ago. There are no paper towels, no toilet paper, so they have to bring their own.
And there are so few people to clean the bathrooms and workspaces that employees are asked to take their garbage home with them at the end of the day. And so I was curious about this worker and his background, and he told me he's a Trump supporter who voted for him because he appreciated how he looked out for workers during his first term. And so I asked him if he was second guessing his vote now, he said, "In my mind, he did a lot of positive for us during those years. I don't know what the hell is going on now."
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. Strong words. So you spoke with several federal employees from different agencies, Jessica. Did their stories about RTO reflect similar challenges?
Jessica Guynn:
Their stories were remarkably similar from agency to agency and whether people were working out of field offices or the main headquarters. Because the federal government unloaded so much office space to cut costs after the pandemic work from home order, there just isn't enough room for everyone. So they're getting in early to jockey for parking spot desks, chairs, basic supplies. They have to rely on really spotty and overloaded internet connections. They have to go hang out in their cars if they need to discuss sensitive or classified matters out of earshot of their co-workers. Some people are working in supply closets for those reasons.
And some of these offices have stood sort of semi-vacant for years, so they have all kinds of sanitation issues. We're talking cockroaches, rats, clogged toilets, busted sinks, overflowing trash cans, and there's just not enough janitorial workers to stay on top of it all. What makes matters a little bit worse for these folks is that the sudden return to office has upended their lives, especially those with children. Many people who were hired as remote workers now face commutes that can stretch hundreds of miles and some are even shacking up in cheap sublets or couchsurfing with friends closer to the office during the week. So it's been a pretty dramatic shift for them.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah, I'd imagine. So what is this actually doing, Jessica, to productivity?
Jessica Guynn:
Well, people are spending hours commuting to and from work, not to mention they can spend another hour parking. One guy told me that's how long it takes him to find parking in a garage and take two shuttles, one from the parking garage to the campus and the other from the entrance of the campus to his office. Once they get into the office, they're dealing with overcrowding. Some people are stacked in conference rooms and have to talk over each other on phone calls and meetings. They're also dealing with broken equipment, and generally, fairly subpar working conditions. On top of that, because of the cutback, some people are now shouldering the work of several people. None of that makes for a very happy workplace or very happy workers. So I think it's safe to say they're not putting in all those extra hours they used to when they worked part-time or full-time from home, especially after hours.
Taylor Wilson:
The Office of Personnel Management, the Federal Government's Human Resources Division, what do they say about all this?
Jessica Guynn:
Well, it's important to note that many federal employees were directed to work part or full-time from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some remote work arrangements actually began much earlier than that. And after taking office, President Trump ordered federal employees back to the office full-time, and that was part of his administration's drive to make government bureaucracy less costly, more efficient, more answerable to the American people. And he and Elon Musk have been pretty clear about what will happen to any federal employees who don't follow this order.
Now, I did not hear back from the White House for this story, but the Office of Personnel Management or OPM emphasized that their return to office is a priority for the administration. It said that in-person collaboration strengthens productivity, mission delivery, and public service. What was most interesting to me is that OPM also said that it is supporting federal agencies in making necessary improvements to provide a safe and effective work environment. And that includes facility conditions, resource availability, and connectivity. So clearly, the Trump administration is acknowledging the lapses we reported on here and is promising to address them. We will just have to wait and see if they do.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Listeners can find the full version of Jessica's story with a link in today's show notes. Jessica Guynn is a senior reporter with Paste BN. Thank you, Jessica.
Jessica Guynn:
Thanks so much for having me, Taylor.
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Taylor Wilson:
Are schools providing the best education for all students? Sociologist and author Eve L. Ewing says in her new book, "That's true only for some children."
Eve L. Ewing:
We expect them to go to school and explore and learn and discover their own lives as autonomous beings, but that for black children and native children, that the most important thing is that they learn self-control and that they be controlled through surveillance and through a very strict corporal discipline.
Taylor Wilson:
My colleague, Dana Taylor, sat down with Eve to discuss her book, Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism. Hear that conversation right here on The Excerpt today, beginning at 4:00 PM Eastern Time.
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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.