Several Republican senators are pulling their support for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over concerns that his inexperience and brash leadership style are creating turmoil across the highest ranks of America’s military.
A new report from The Hill details a series of anonymous conversations with lawmakers who make clear that, if Hegseth’s confirmation vote were now, he would not get the nod.
The outlet also noted that while the group of GOP lawmakers would like to see the secretary removed, the decision is up to President Donald Trump.
Hegseth, 45, has drawn the ire of Capitol Hill Republicans over his ousting of Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and Randy George, the Army chief of staff, who was especially well-liked among legislators.
“The hollowing out of incredible leadership at the Pentagon has been a big concern,” a senator told The Hill. “It really came to a tipping point when Gen. George was dismissed.”
A number of GOP senators with oversight of the Department of Defense were focused on the timing of the general’s firing, which happened when Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll was away from Washington.
Apart from the anonymous opposition to Hegseth’s management of the department, some Republicans have taken their criticism public.
Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa called the firing of Gen. George “a mistake” by Hegseth.
Ernst cast an important vote in favor of the former Fox News host’s confirmation last year, despite expressing earlier reservations about his candidacy following sexual assault allegations against Hegseth, which he has denied.
Senator Thom Tillis, the North Carolina Republican who is not seeking re-election, accused Hegseth—who is a combat veteran— of “missing the mark” when it comes to personnel.
“He has separated some of the most extraordinary generals that we’ve had in play. I don’t quite know what’s going on there,” he said.
Tillis, 65, added that while he supported the defense secretary’s confirmation last year, “he’s got a failing grade” on key skills involved in the job.
Asked for comment on the claims made in The Hill article, Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast that the secretary doesn’t comment on the nature of the departure of uniformed officers.
“But we all serve at the pleasure of the President — and the President and the Secretary deserve officers who fully and expeditiously embrace the priorities, policies, and objectives of this Administration,” Parnell wrote. “It is extremely difficult to reform a department—particularly a department the size of DoW—with the same personnel who were a part of previous priorities. Necessary changes have been made and will continue to be made.”
A spokesperson from the White House, Anna Kelly, told the Daily Beast: “Secretary Hegseth is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon, and President Trump has full confidence in his ability to make the right decisions within his own department and carry out the President’s agenda.”
The growing unease with Trump’s pick to oversee the military comes as the turnover in the president’s Cabinet accelerates.
After former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was fired in March, the White House dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 2. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned soon after, following serious professional misconduct allegations.
If Hegseth were to be next, he would not be the first Secretary of Defense under Trump to leave in the middle of the president’s term. In 2018, Secretary James Mattis resigned from his position over policy disagreements with the commander-in-chief.
