Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said Friday that the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood gunman Nidal Malik Hasan is a sign the United States is drifting toward authoritarian models like North Korea and Saudi Arabia. In a post on X, he warned that “this disgusting and un-American plan must be stopped.” The post came a day after the Pentagon confirmed that the first military execution in more than 65 years would be broadcast to the public.
The Post
McGovern, who also co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, published the statement at 1:55 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2026. In full, it read:
“Live-streamed executions.
Rampant corruption.
Attacks on journalists.
Government propaganda.
MAGA might be fine with us turning into North Korea or Saudi Arabia. I’m not. This disgusting and un-American plan must be stopped.”
What He Was Responding To
McGovern was responding directly to reporting that the Pentagon had confirmed the firing squad execution of Hasan will be livestreamed. The Associated Press reported Thursday that the disclosure followed remarks by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had described the execution as “public.” The Army announced this week that the execution will take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 shooting at the Texas base.
Hegseth told Real America’s Voice on Wednesday, “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.” Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests, he replied, “Don’t care. We’ll see him on Dec. 3.” Reuters reported that Hegseth separately called the choice of a Thursday at 1 p.m. at Fort Hood, roughly the day, time and place of the shooting, a “no brainer.” Under military law, a president must approve a firing squad execution.
An Unprecedented Execution
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist and major, would be the first service member executed by the military since Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged on April 13, 1961. He would also be the first put to death by military firing squad in decades. Hegseth said the military has not used a firing squad on a service member since World War II. Hasan has been on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since his 2013 conviction, and his final appeal was rejected in April 2025.
The livestream plan has also raised legal and ethical questions. Elisabeth Semel, co-director of the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley Law, said she could not recall a case in which the push to televise an execution came from the government itself. “This is a president who’s about spectacle,” she said. Deborah Denno, a death penalty expert at Fordham University, offered a different view, saying a livestream could make the process “much more transparent.”
Trump’s Earlier Words on Public Executions
The administration’s position on public executions has drawn attention because of Trump’s own past statements about Iran. Before the U.S. attack on Iran on Feb. 28, Trump cited the possibility of executions of protesters by the Iranian government as part of the rationale for military action. “We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping,” Trump told reporters on Jan. 14. “It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions.” In his State of the Union address days before the war began, he said, “We stopped them from hanging a lot of them with the threat of serious violence.”
The Comparison McGovern Drew
McGovern’s reference to North Korea and Saudi Arabia was not accompanied by specific examples. The post also did not cite particular incidents behind the claims about corruption, attacks on journalists or government propaganda. Public executions are a documented practice elsewhere: Amnesty International said in its report on 2025 executions that it knew of at least 17 public executions, 11 in Iran and six in Afghanistan.
The corruption theme in his post echoes a push among congressional Democrats. In July, Senate Democrats launched an anti-corruption working group and released a report titled “The Cost of Corruption: How Trump Turns Power Into Profit at Americans’ Expense.”
A Long Record of Criticism
McGovern has accused Trump of corruption and authoritarian behavior for years. After the Senate voted in February 2020 to acquit Trump on articles of impeachment, McGovern, then chairman of the House Rules Committee, said in a statement that “Donald Trump broke the law.” He said Republican senators “have forever tied their legacy to Donald Trump’s corruption and lies.” He added that the Senate had set the country on a course toward “the crooked authoritarianism we have opposed for two and a half centuries, but which Donald Trump embraces with open arms.”
On Nov. 20, 2025, McGovern issued a statement condemning a Trump message directed at members of Congress. “Let’s not mince words. Donald Trump’s statement is a death threat,” he said. He added: “We will not let Donald Trump normalize violence as a tool of political power.”
Criticism of Hegseth and the Iran War
McGovern has also been sharply critical of Hegseth. In remarks on the House floor in November 2024, after Trump named Hegseth as his pick for defense secretary, McGovern called the Cabinet nominations “beyond insane.” He questioned the choice of “someone who paid hush money to cover up a sexual assault accusation” to “lead our military.” Hegseth has denied wrongdoing.
On the Iran war, McGovern said in a July 2026 interview, “It’s just like Iraq,” describing the conflict as “a war based on arrogance and bad intelligence.” He argued that Congress should vote on whether to authorize the war. The House passed a bipartisan Iran War Powers Resolution on June 3, 95 days after the war began, according to a statement from Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.).
Other House Democrats have gone further against Hegseth. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) filed six articles of impeachment against him in April, citing U.S. operations in Iran and his handling of classified information.
What Comes Next
The Pentagon said more details about the livestream would follow, and the White House referred questions about it to the Pentagon on Thursday. Hasan’s former civil attorney, John Galligan, said Hasan has not yet had access to legal counsel. An Army spokeswoman said every reasonable effort was made to contact his attorneys. Experts have said Hasan could file a habeas petition in civilian court that might delay the Dec. 3 date, though his conduct at trial suggests he may not resist.