The Pentagon says Hegseth is staying. Democrats promise investigations after taking Congress.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is doing “a very good job” and that he is not considering replacing him, even as multiple sources said Trump has been asking advisers whether Hegseth should stay after Republicans’ midterm losses.
Asked whether he was weighing a replacement for Hegseth, whom the administration styles War Secretary and who has been one of the Iran war’s most vocal defenders, Trump said, “No, I think he’s doing a very good job.” Sources told CBS News that Trump has been asking people around him and on the phone whether Hegseth should remain, though others said he has not decided to replace him. A White House spokeswoman said Trump “has full confidence” in him. CBS reported that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was floated as a possible replacement, who could be confirmed in the lame-duck period and take the post when his term ends in January. Trump was also asked whether he would like to see Hegseth appointed to the Tennessee Senate seat that Sen. Marsha Blackburn will vacate when she becomes governor. “I actually think he’d be very popular if he did that,” he said, “but I haven’t heard that at all.”
A White House official told Fox News the results “would have looked very different without the Iran War,” and predicted Trump would hold Hegseth accountable in the lame-duck session. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth would continue to drive Trump’s agenda and that the Pentagon “has followed the law.” Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, has urged Trump to replace Hegseth.
The response contrasted with 2006, when President George W. Bush fired Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld the morning after midterms in which voter anger over the Iraq war helped Democrats win Congress, Reuters noted. Democrats have promised investigations that could range from the Iran war to Hegseth’s removal of senior military officers, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Rep. Thomas Massie said he would reintroduce articles of impeachment if Hegseth is still in office, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would run him “out of town.”
This report draws on information from Reuters, CBS News and Fox News.