U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on Friday for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be removed from office, accusing him of turning a military execution into a “public spectacle” and declaring him “beyond unfit” to lead the U.S. armed forces. Her post on X came one day after the Pentagon confirmed it will livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. The broadcast would be unprecedented in modern American history.
Pelosi’s full post, published at 2:41 p.m. on October 9, 2026, read:
“Pete Hegseth wants to turn an execution into a public spectacle for Americans and the world to watch.
He dishonors both our nation and the position he holds. He is beyond unfit to lead the brave men and women of our Armed Forces.
He must go.”
What the Pentagon Announced
The post followed reporting that the Pentagon will livestream Hasan’s execution, scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, the same Texas base where he opened fire in 2009. A Pentagon official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, “It will be livestreamed. Details will follow.” Hegseth confirmed the plan in a post on X,. Hasan is set to become the first person executed by firing squad by the U.S. military since 1945.
Hegseth’s Own Words
Hegseth, who championed the push to execute Hasan by firing squad, told the Human Events Daily program that choosing Fort Hood, and a Thursday at 1 p.m., the approximate day, time and location of the 2009 attack, was a “no-brainer,” Reuters reported. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public. Because people need to understand that … there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said. Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests, he answered: “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3.”
A Broadcast With No Modern Precedent
A military jury sentenced Hasan to death in August 2013 after convicting him of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder. Under military law, a president must approve an execution by firing squad, and President Donald Trump did so on Hegseth’s recommendation, the Pentagon said Monday. The White House declined to say whether Trump supported livestreaming the execution and referred questions to the Pentagon. No other country is known to televise or livestream a legal execution.
Legal Experts Raise Alarms
Eugene Fidell, a military law expert who lectures at Yale Law School, told Reuters it would be “extremely, extremely strange” to livestream the event. He said that as far as he knew it would be unprecedented, and that Hasan would likely need to sue in federal court to block a public display of his death. Jonathan Lurie, a historian of military justice, said there are no compelling reasons to make the execution public. “What’s the point of it? Who would want to see that?” Lurie said.
The Historical Weight of Public Executions
Public executions have become exceedingly rare worldwide, with Iran and Taliban-run Afghanistan among the countries known to conduct them in recent years. The last legally sanctioned public execution in the United States took place in 1936, death penalty experts told Reuters, when thousands watched the hanging of a young Black man convicted of raping a white woman. Extrajudicial lynchings, often carried out by white mobs targeting Black Americans, were public spectacles well into the 20th century.
Pelosi’s Record on the Death Penalty
Pelosi has long opposed capital punishment. In March 2019, as Speaker, she praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on executions as “a momentous step for justice that honors the Constitution’s 8th Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.” She wrote then that “even the most heinous of crimes can be punished without killing,” and described the death penalty as showing “brokenness and barbarism,” adding that it is “cruel, error-ridden and unjust.”
Her Response to the Fort Hood Attack in 2009
Pelosi’s most direct public comments on the Fort Hood attack came in November 2009, when she was Speaker. On November 5, the day of the shooting, she called it “an unspeakable tragedy for the families, soldiers, civilians, and support staff on the base.” Her statement did not name the gunman. It said “the entire United States Congress stands with the members of our military every day” and offered prayers and condolences to the victims and their families.
Honoring the Victims on the House Floor
The next day, Pelosi spoke on the House floor in support of H. Res. 895, a resolution honoring those killed and wounded at Fort Hood. “At Fort Hood yesterday, ordinary citizens performed extraordinary acts and they were called upon to be heroes,” she said. She added that “our entire country mourns the losses of those who were killed and are praying for them.”
A Prior Call for Hegseth to Step Down
Friday’s post is not Pelosi’s first demand that Hegseth leave the Pentagon. In March 2025, after Hegseth shared military plans in a Signal group chat, her office released a statement under the headline “TIME NOW for the Secretary of Defense to Resign.” She said then that she had “never before seen such horrifying incompetence in the securing of our nation’s intelligence” in her thirty years working with the Intelligence Community. “How dare he put our Troops at risk with this cavalier behavior. There must be accountability,” she said.
Earlier Criticism of Hegseth’s Decisions
In June 2025, Pelosi condemned the reported decision to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, calling it “a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream.” Milk was a Navy veteran and a San Francisco political figure. Pelosi said she hoped the Navy would reconsider what she called an “egregious decision.”
Mounting Pressure on the Pentagon Chief
Hegseth has faced sustained criticism from congressional Democrats during the U.S.-Iran war. House Democrats introduced five articles of impeachment against him in April 2026, accusing him of abuse of power and war crimes. The measure was widely seen as having little chance of passing in the current Congress. Hegseth has defended his conduct of the war, including in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in April.
The Death Penalty Debate Intensifies
The announcement comes amid heightened debate in the United States over capital punishment. Tennessee’s attempt last week to execute Christa Pike, which would have made her the first woman put to death in the state in more than 200 years, went awry when prison personnel botched a lethal injection, leaving her alive but hospitalized. The Trump administration has also recently added firing squad, electrocution and gas asphyxiation to permissible forms of federal execution, in part because of difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs.
What Comes Next
Pelosi, 86, announced in November 2025 that she will not seek reelection, and her term ends in early 2027. Her call for Hegseth’s removal arrives with less than two months before the scheduled execution. No court challenge to the planned livestream has been reported, and the White House has not said whether Trump supports broadcasting the execution. The Pentagon has said further details will follow.