Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed war plans in a chat on a commercial app that accidentally included a journalist, faced allegations of war crimes in the Caribbean and frustrations over his purge of top generals, and survived it all. But now his fate is one of the biggest questions in the aftermath of the midterms. Even his own bosses acknowledge that the war against Iran, championed by the self-proclaimed “secretary of war,” was a major contributor to the Republican blood bath in the elections.
Hegseth was already battling hostile bipartisan forces in Congress, including an impeachment effort introduced by a Republican — Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Congress still has not passed the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion overall budget request, with lawmakers in both parties pointing to the combative defense secretary as among the reasons it has not moved forward. A part of this defense funding measure, the National Defense Authorization Act, would fund salaries for troops, weapons production and everything in between.
But it also remained stalled after months as lawmakers complained that the Pentagon had not consulted or communicated with them on a host of issues, including the war in Iran. And President Trump’s efforts to push through another aspect of the funding, some $350 billion in military spending using a special budget bill that could not be filibustered, had not advanced either. Trump has stuck with his defense secretary, who has made amplifying the president on culture-war issues the center of his tenure at the Pentagon.
Trump told Fox News on election night that he did not intend to make any changes to his cabinet, and on Wednesday, when asked specifically about Mr. Hegseth, he told reporters, “I think he’s doing a very good job.” Pentagon officials also say Mr. Hegseth is not going anywhere.
Hegseth at a dignified transfer for U.S. soldiers killed during the Iran war in July. Trump has so far stood by Mr. Hegseth.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times After Republican losses in the 2006 midterms, the first cabinet member to fall in President George W.
Bush’s administration was Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a magnet for criticism for his management of the war in Iraq. 54 Democrats Dem. Republicans Rep. 50 44253 Democrats Dem.
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