Rep. Mike Levin, a U.S. Congressman representing California’s 49th district since 2019, posted a series of statements on December 5, 2025, addressing military conduct and the presidential pardon system.
In one post, Levin criticized actions taken following a military strike: “Hegseth had clear rules before these strikes began to rescue shipwrecked survivors who were no longer a threat and only re-engage if they took hostile action. Instead, after two men survived the Sept. 2 strike, he let an order stand to kill them anyway. That is not a fog-of-war” (December 5, 2025).
Levin also addressed concerns regarding the presidential pardon process: “The presidential pardon system has reached a breaking point, which is why I have joined Reps. Cohen, Lieu, and H. Johnson in proposing a Constitutional amendment that finally puts guardrails on abuse. The amendment would explicitly prohibit a self-pardon and would bar pardons for” (December 5, 2025).
Further commenting on military leadership and information security, Levin stated: “The Pentagon watchdog confirms what many of us already knew. Pete Hegseth’s choice to share military strike information in a Signal group chat put our service members in harm’s way. This goes beyond incompetence and is a failure of leadership. Hegseth is the most unqualified” (December 5, 2025).
Levin has served as representative for California’s 49th District since replacing Darrell Issa in 2019. Born in Inglewood in 1978 and currently residing in San Juan Capistrano, Levin holds degrees from Stanford University and Duke University.
