Under the Dome: NC Democrats call for firings and resignations after Signalgate
Happy Monday! Welcome to Under the Dome. It’s Danielle Battaglia.
This is our second newsletter wrapping up the past week in news surrounding President Donald Trump and its impact on North Carolina.
Let’s talk about it: It’s been a week since the scandal being called Signalgate broke and it remained the most talked-about story in the national news.
As it should, given the potential consequences that could have resulted from such a security lapse.
If you weren’t paying attention (and I love you for it) let me catch you up: Top U.S. national security officials used a text messaging app, Signal, to discuss their plans to attack Yemen.
Signal, while encrypted, is not considered secure enough to discuss classified information, which is usually limited to secure rooms with official government-issued phones or in sensitive compartmented information facilities, known as SCIFs.
And Signalgate has proven why.
The text chain included National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who created the group, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong, National Counterterrorism Center nominee Joe Kent and Trump adviser Stephen Miller, among others.
It also included The Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg.
And despite at least 11 people overseeing national security being on this text chain, no one seemed to notice that Waltz had accidentally included Goldberg in the thread.
Goldberg, meanwhile, thought he was being scammed and that none of the thread was real — I mean, who would, when emojis are being thrown around to talk about attacking a foreign country?
But then the attack in Yemen actually began.
That’s when he removed himself from the chat and reported what had happened.
The White House tried to shift blame to Goldberg and denied any sensitive information was leaked.
Democrats were calling for heads to roll, and Republicans tried to feign ignorance on the matter.
But then Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican and chairman of the Armed Service Committee, called for a report on what happened.
And two of North Carolina’s Democrats called for punishment.
Rep. Deborah Ross, of Raleigh, said Hegseth should be fired.
“The Signal chat clearly included classified information — despite the lies coming out of the White House,” Ross wrote on social media. “Hegseth endangered our troops and national security. He must resign or be fired immediately.”
Rep. Valerie Foushee, of Hillsborough, called for Hegseth’s resignation, but she didn’t stop there.
“Pete Hegseth and top Trump officials transmitted classified info via an unsecure messaging app, jeopardizing our national security and risking the lives of our servicemembers,” Foushee wrote on social media. “They must be held accountable for this dangerous security breach. Hegseth needs to resign, as does everyone else in that chat.”
In other news
▪ In a “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” moment, Trump attempted to change the national conversation to something else Wednesday evening.
He announced a 25% tariff on imported vehicles. Evan Moore breaks down what that means for North Carolina from jobs, to costs of vehicles, repairs and insurance. The tariffs go into effect Thursday.
▪ Last week marked six months since Helene ravaged Western North Carolina. And an Elon University poll found that a large portion of North Carolinians are unhappy with the recovery progress. Of those polled 39% — the majority Republican — also agree with Trump that FEMA should be eliminated.
Kyle Ingram has more on that and other topics polled from around #ncpol.
▪ Two North Carolinians landed in the Trump administration last week. I covered the confirmation vote of Rep. Dan Bishop, a Republican from Waxhaw, to serve as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. And Mary Ramsey wrote about Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari’s decision to resign after being appointed to serve as deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Authority.
▪ Around the time the Signal news broke, the Trump administration announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would claw back COVID relief funding, effective immediately. This might seem like small potatoes at this point in the pandemic, but the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, and public health offices around the country, were using this money to track and prevent illnesses like measles, flu, RSV and future pandemics. It’s expected to cost NCDHHS more than $100 million and more than 80 jobs. I wrote more on this this week.
Other stories to check out
There was so much Trump news this week I couldn’t fit it all into this newsletter, but here are four more stories I think you should check out before you go:
▪ No, not that Elon ... An NC university tries to distance itself from the DOGE leader, by Josh Shaffer.
▪ Raleigh recognizing LGBTQ+ history as Trump administration removes it, by Anna Roman.
▪ RTI International layoffs surpass 500 as Durham nonprofit reacts to federal funding cuts by Brian Gordon.
▪ Gordon also writes: Canadian furniture maker is moving its operations to NC. Are Trump’s tariffs the reason?
I’m still working out how to best bring you the latest Trump news so as always, if you have any feedback or tips for this new edition of the newsletter feel free to reach out to me directly at dbattaglia@mcclatchydc.com.
Thanks for reading! See you next week!
Not a subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Under the Dome in your inbox daily.
This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
