IV 119THCONGRESS 1 STSESSION H. RES. 265 Condemning the Trump administration for the use of an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH27, 2025 Ms. J OHNSONof Texas (for herself, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. J OHNSONof Georgia) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Condemning the Trump administration for the use of an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’. Whereas Vice President J.D. Vance used an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR265.IH HR265 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HRES 265 IH Whereas the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used an un- authorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas the Secretary of State Marco Rubio used an unau- thorized method of communicating highly sensitive or po- tentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard used an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging plat- form ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas Presidential Advisor Stephen Miller used an unau- thorized method of communicating highly sensitive or po- tentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Mike Walz used an unauthorized method of com- municating highly sensitive or potentially classified infor- mation regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas the Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent used an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe used an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information re- VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR265.IH HR265 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HRES 265 IH garding a United States military operation via the mes- saging platform ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas the National Security Council official Brian McCor- mack used an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information re- garding a United States military operation via the mes- saging platform ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas the White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles used an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas the National Security Council official Steve Witkoff used an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging plat- form ‘‘Signal’’; Whereas members of the administration may not have prop- erly documented highly sensitive and potentially classified information in accordance with chapters 21, 29, 31, and 33 of title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Records Act), enacted in 1950; Whereas foreign adversaries have previously accessed and consistently attempt to access highly sensitive and classi- fied information relevant to United States National Secu- rity, such as China’s successful 2024 attempt to infiltrate the United States Treasury and Russia’s targeting of United States military plans and sensitive data, notably through operations like Moonlight Maze and espionage activities such as the Arc Electronics case, which include cyberattacks and illegal technology exports; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR265.IH HR265 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HRES 265 IH Whereas top members of the administration used a publicly available commercial platform to form a ‘‘small group’’, communicate highly sensitive or potentially classified in- formation, and discuss openly their intentions, at risk of access by foreign adversaries; Whereas the administration has in prior instances violated Federal law and basic guidance on handling of classified information, such as the President’s improper storage of classified documents at ‘‘Mar-a-Lago’’; and Whereas members of the administration discussed highly classified information regarding a United States military operation outside of a Sensitive Compartmented Informa- tion Facility, also known as a SCIF: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) condemns the administration for risking our 2 national security by potentially exposing highly sen-3 sitive or potentially classified information to United 4 States foreign adversaries like China and Russia, 5 who have in the past have successfully accessed 6 highly sensitive and confidential information per-7 taining to United States national interests; 8 (2) condemns the administration for putting 9 American servicemembers’ lives at risk by discussing 10 military operations in an unsecured, unclassified set-11 ting and sharing this information with at least one 12 nongovernmental party; 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR265.IH HR265 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HRES 265 IH (3) calls on the administration to review its pro-1 cedures and systems for the communication of clas-2 sified information; 3 (4) calls on the administration to investigate all 4 communication methods being used by members of 5 the administration and ensure they are aligned with 6 proper procedure as it pertains to the communica-7 tion of classified or highly sensitive information; 8 (5) calls on the administration to initiate an in-9 vestigation to uncover if any members of the admin-10 istration violated any Federal laws regarding the 11 communication of classified information; 12 (6) calls on the administration to hold any and 13 all members of the administration accountable to the 14 full extent of the law if any Federal laws were vio-15 lated by members of the administration pertaining to 16 the communication of classified information; 17 (7) calls on the administration to investigate on 18 how many instances the National Security Council 19 or any other relevant executive branch officials has 20 used the ‘‘Signal’’ messaging service or any other 21 messaging service application that has not been ap-22 proved for the transmission of highly sensitive or 23 classified information; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR265.IH HR265 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HRES 265 IH (8) calls on the administration to ensure all 1 members of the administration are communicating 2 highly sensitive or classified information inside a 3 SCIF to ensure members of the administration do 4 not endanger United States National Security by 5 communicating classified information through im-6 proper channels; and 7 (9) calls on the administration to inform all 8 members of the administration that the communica-9 tion of classified information outside of a SCIF, is 10 strictly prohibited and that any members of the ad-11 ministration found to violate this procedure will be 12 removed from office and subsequently be punished in 13 accordance with any and all applicable laws per-14 taining to the communication of classified informa-15 tion. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR265.IH HR265 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB