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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks safe in his job — for now.
A flurry of firings at the Pentagon attributed to leak allegations, followed by a New York Times report that Hegseth shared information about US strikes on Yemen in a second Signal chat, are prompting fresh handwringing over Hegseth’s future. That speculation kicked into high gear on Sunday after a former top Pentagon official warned that the defense secretary was presiding over a department “in disarray.”
The president and his top aides promptly rallied to Hegseth’s side on Monday in a replay of the internal circling of the wagons that took place last month, after a reporter was added to a Signal chat where more sensitive Yemen details were shared.
Trump told reporters that he remains confident in Hegseth, who is “doing a great job.” The president placed the blame on “disgruntled employees” and criticized the “fake news” media for reporting on the defense secretary’s actions, maintaining that Hegseth was elevated to his position “to get rid of a lot of bad people.”
Those involved have denied the leaking charges and say they remain unaware what exactly they “were investigated for.”
Despite Trump’s public support, some people close to the administration see Hegseth as imperiled and compare the current siege to his difficult confirmation fight, which was marked by allegations of excessive drinking and mistreatment of his ex-wife.
And this time around, there’s a little less confidence that Hegseth can survive the hits. One of those people told Semafor that after some of Hegseth’s closest allies were fired for reasons that aren’t yet clear, he’s on an island at the Pentagon.
Not to mention that, while Trump remains behind Hegseth, the president also can tire of defending his advisers.
The defense secretary himself angrily dismissed the new reports as “hit pieces” on Monday.
“Not going to work with me, because we’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news, doesn’t matter,” Hegseth said.
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As both Hegseth and Trump dug in and showed no signs that their partnership is fraying, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “stands strongly” by the Pentagon chief and former Fox News host.
Yet political fallout keeps accumulating for the Trump administration over what are now two documented instances of Hegseth sharing attack plans over Signal. Democrats renewed their calls for his dismissal, and many Senate Republicans — including some who voted to confirm him — were quiet on Monday in the wake of the new reports when Semafor contacted their offices about Hegseth.
Meanwhile, White House allies have quietly groused to Semafor in recent weeks that Hegseth may not have been the best pick for the job. Three Senate Republicans opposed his confirmation.
Two others wavered on Hegseth in public: Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said there were aspects about his past that gave him “pause,” and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., wrestled with the nomination, though both ultimately supported Hegseth.
Previously, Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker and the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed, last month made a bipartisan request for an inspector general investigation into the first Signal incident. Wicker did not have an immediate comment on Monday; Reed said Sunday the second Signal incident should be included in the IG probe.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said on Monday that the details surrounding of a second sensitive Signal chat are “troubling on their own, but are particularly disturbing given the abrupt exodus of senior officials at the Pentagon and the new public warnings about Secretary Hegseth’s poor leadership by one of his own former top aides.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Hegseth to be fired; John Ullyot, a former Pentagon spokesman, said in a Politico op-ed that “the president deserves better than the current mishegoss at the Pentagon. Given his record of holding prior Cabinet leaders accountable, many in the secretary’s own inner circle will applaud quietly if Trump chooses to do the same in short order at the top of the Defense Department.”
Shelby and Burgess’ View
Trump wielded his bully pulpit freely during his first term, firing aides quickly and often. During his second term, he’s been much more resistant to canning top officials. That’s mostly because, as those close to him put it, the president feels it would give his opponents a win.
Trump also doesn’t care that much about drama over things like the sharing of classified information — after Signalgate initially broke, he was more perturbed over the fact that The Atlantic, a magazine he hates, was added into the chat.
So don’t be surprised if he continues letting this play out without firing Hegseth, much like he handled last month’s Signal debacle starring National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
Room for Disagreement
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., took a harsher view of Hegseth’s behavior in an interview with Politico on Monday, suggesting that the White House come down harder — even as he stopped short of calling for the defense secretary’s resignation or firing.
“I like him on Fox. But does he have the experience to lead one of the largest organizations in the world? That’s a concern,” Bacon, a relatively establishment-minded national security hawk in a battleground seat, told Politico.
Notable
- Citing one unnamed US official, NPR reports that the search for a new defense secretary has started — a report that Leavitt called “fake news.”
- The US is still bombing targets in Yemen, per the Associated Press.
- We reported back in March why Trump 2.0 isn’t quick to fire top officials.