A 'meltdown' at Hegseth's Pentagon
The Defense Secretary is fighting to keep his job amid leaked Signal chats and staff turmoil

What happened
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was fighting to hold on to his Cabinet position this week after reports that he used a second Signal chat—which included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer— last month to discuss detailed plans for a U.S. military strike on rebel camps in Yemen. The New York Times reported that Hegseth, a former Fox News host, had created chaos "unmatched in the recent history" of the Pentagon, and that after he fired three top aides last week and accused them of leaking to the press, his circle of advisers "is in shambles." A fourth recently departed aide, former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot, said in a Politico column that the Defense Department is "in a full-blown meltdown" under Hegseth's leadership and that "it's hard to see" him retaining his post. NPR reported that the Trump administration has begun a search for Hegseth's replacement.
President Trump said Hegseth "is doing a great job" and denied seeking to replace him. Hegseth maintains the information he shared about the Yemen strikes on two Signal chats—the first with a journalist mistakenly included—was "informal" and not classified. But NBC News reported that the plans Hegseth detailed came directly from a general using a secure government system. The inclusion of Hegseth's wife—a former Fox producer with no military background—in the chat has raised questions about her frequent presence in Hegseth's official meetings. While some Republicans are standing by Hegseth, GOP Rep. Don Bacon called him "an amateur" and said he was acting "like he's above the law."
What the columnists said
Hegseth is blaming the media and "former disgruntled employees" for his troubles, said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial, but the press "didn't make up the staff turmoil, or the embarrassing Signal chat." The "infighting, dismissals, and leaks" look like "the self-inflicted mistakes of a management neophyte." Hegseth vowed to be a disruptor of the status quo at the Pentagon, but, as Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell warned when he voted against Hegseth's confirmation, that's not a "sufficient credential" to be put in charge of America's defense and 3.4 million military and civilian employees. If he wants to keep his job, he needs to bring in competent, experienced staff.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Actually, "it's time for Hegseth to go," said Max Boot in The Washington Post. He's "in way over his head," and is "undermining the military's effectiveness." A lower-level employee would have been fired, if not criminally charged, for "such flagrant misbehavior" as boasting about an imminent U.S. attack via a commercial app on his personal phone. Time to hand the job "to someone who has the right experience and qualifications to lead one of the world's largest and most complex organizations."
Trump doesn't want to sack Hegseth because he thinks it "will only encourage and empower the press," said David A. Graham in The Atlantic. But that's a "dangerous game to play with national security." If Trump won't take a "political loss now, what kind of geopolitical loss does he risk later?"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Columbia pays $200M to settle with White House
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the school of failing to protect its Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests
-
The lead paint poisoning scandal rocking China
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Sick schoolchildren and allegations of a cover-up have pushed China's public safety concerns back into the public eye
-
Florida judge and DOJ make Epstein trouble for Trump
Speed Read The Trump administration's request to release grand jury transcripts from the Epstein investigation was denied
-
Florida judge and DOJ make Epstein trouble for Trump
Speed Read The Trump administration's request to release grand jury transcripts from the Epstein investigation was denied
-
Trump attacks Obama as Epstein furor mounts
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the Obama administration of 'treasonous' behavior during the 2016 election
-
Deportations: The growing backlash
Feature New poll numbers show declining support for Trump's deportation crackdown
-
Is Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' cancellation an omen of something worse?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION CBS said its decision to end the talk show was strictly business. But the timing and nature of the announcement has some observers wondering if there's more at play behind the scenes.
-
Citizenship: Trump order blocked again
Feature After the Supreme Court restricted nationwide injunctions, a federal judge turned to a class action suit to block Trump's order to end birthright citizenship
-
Loyalty tests: The purge at the FBI
Feature Kash Patel is conducting polygraph tests on FBI agents to weed out anyone speaking badly about him
-
Epstein: Why MAGA won't move on
Feature Trump's supporters are turning on him after he denied the existence of Epstein's client list
-
Arms for Ukraine and an ultimatum for Russia
Feature Donald Trump reverses course, sending weapons to Ukraine and threatening Russia with tariffs