Republicans are blaming their crushing midterm defeat on the war in Iran, leaving the political future of the man most closely associated with the conflict hanging by a thread.
Yet senior sources say there is virtually no possibility that Pete Hegseth, perhaps the most divisive defense secretary in modern US history, will voluntarily resign.
“That would be completely out of character,” said a senior Pentagon insider. “He is stubborn—extremely stubborn—and entirely focused on himself.”
“He believes it is God’s mission for him to lead this department. He will not step aside unless he is forced or pushed out.”
That does not necessarily mean Hegseth will remain in charge of the Defense Department, despite President Trump’s continued public support.
Hegseth could face impeachment by a Democratic-controlled Congress in 2027, or even sooner during the lame-duck session, as fellow Republicans turn against him over an unpopular war that has driven up US energy prices.
After Republican Congressman Thomas Massie announced Monday that he planned to force an impeachment vote in the House this week, Hegseth told reporters he was not intimidated.
“If you want to debate our success, I am happy to do that all day long,” he said.
Hegseth could nevertheless be offered what some outlets have described as a political escape route: an appointment to the US Senate seat that Republican Marsha Blackburn will vacate when she becomes Tennessee’s governor.
Alternatively, Trump could fire him if the notoriously unpredictable president decides that, after dismissing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, he needs another scapegoat for the GOP’s devastating losses—or concludes that continuing the Iran war is no longer worthwhile.
Dismissal would be the quickest way to remove Hegseth, and it is the option favored by four Pentagon insiders who spoke to the Daily Mail. They fear the defense secretary could push the administration toward another major wave of attacks on Iran, as Trump has threatened.
Pete Hegseth’s future is uncertain after Republicans suffered devastating midterm losses amid growing backlash over the Iran War
Trump has publicly defended Hegseth, but could still fire him if the notoriously unpredictable president decides he needs another scapegoat after removing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles (right)
“This is not about wanting Pete to fail or seeking revenge,” said a senior civilian defense official who acknowledged that Hegseth’s bleak prospects were “tempting” to some critics.
“It is about preventing the loss of personnel in a stage-two Iran scenario that could be far deadlier than stage one.”
In an emailed statement last Thursday, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said: “Secretary Hegseth is fully committed to leading the Department through the end of President Trump’s term in office.”
“Secretary Hegseth will not retreat or be deterred by politicians seeking partisan attention or pursuing baseless investigations where no wrongdoing has occurred.”
“The Department of War has complied with the law, and our secretary will continue to stand and fight every day to support and defend the Constitution, lead our troops and protect America.”
Even before last week’s midterm rout, many of Hegseth’s most forceful critics were military and civilian officials at the Pentagon rather than political opponents. They regard the 46-year-old former Fox News host as unserious, unqualified and uninterested in expert advice, while accusing him of prioritizing loyalty to Trump over military intelligence, tactics and strategy.
“He is a classic showhorse rather than a workhorse,” said one Army official, who described how Hegseth had a makeup studio installed for himself at the Pentagon soon after taking office.
Trump has continued to stand by his war chief despite a 2025 incident in which Hegseth shared sensitive classified information about an impending US strike on Yemen with his wife and a journalist.
Trump has continued praising his war chief after the Republican election defeat, insisting Hegseth is doing a “very good job”
The former Fox News host has become one of the most divisive figures in Trump’s administrations, with insiders describing him as too stubborn to resign voluntarily
The president also backed Hegseth over legally questionable boat strikes in the Caribbean and his decision to dismiss several senior military commanders, moves that left a leadership vacuum at the Pentagon.
Trump has defended him despite overruling his proposal to livestream the execution of the wheelchair-bound Fort Hood shooter, as well as frustrations that Hegseth minimized the damage to American bases and the depletion of munitions stockpiles during the height of Operation Epic Fury last winter.
Trump is said to like Hegseth personally. The defense secretary projects the aggressive machismo—and, according to some insiders, the ruthlessness—that the president admires.
While Hegseth’s fixation on testosterone and his call for “no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos” in the armed forces have struck many Pentagon officials as petty and cruel, the president reportedly enjoys his swagger.
“Pete Hegseth understood the role within the administration very well. He was performing for an audience of one and tailored his message to the bravado his boss wanted to project,” said Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow specializing in defense policy at the Washington-based Stimson Center.
“The problem is that images eventually stop being enough as the costs mount. Hegseth could say repeatedly that the US was winning, but the prices people were paying at the gas pumps told a different story.”
The Daily Mail reported last month that some Pentagon officials had spent the past 22 months compiling emails, memos and meeting records. They say the documents detail instances in which Hegseth and his inner circle allegedly disregarded strategic and legal advice, berated officials who offered it, withheld information from Congress and the public, and threatened the careers of subordinates who challenged him or were deemed too woke, fat, queer or disloyal.
They believed that paper trail, along with a list of potential witnesses inside the department and several recent secret meetings away from the Pentagon with lawmakers and congressional staff, could prove useful if Democrats retook the House and opened an impeachment investigation in 2027.
Tuesday’s election results surprised them—and much of the country—by giving Democrats not only firm control of the House but also the Senate.
By Wednesday, Republicans as well as Democrats were criticizing Hegseth for being excessively optimistic about the war, underestimating its risks and complexities, and wrongly promising that it would be short and decisive, like the capture of deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
The White House has, to varying degrees, acknowledged the connection between the election result and Iran.
Vice President JD Vance offered a blunt assessment of the midterms in a post reading: “The reason we lost is the war.”
Vice President JD Vance addressed the crushing midterm defeat by saying: “The reason we lost is the war”
“If you want to argue that it was worth it—that losing the Senate for the next six years was a price worth paying—then make that case. Say it was worthwhile. Whether people agree or disagree, at least that would be honest,” Vance continued.
“But everyone knows why we lost. Any honest discussion about where we go from here has to begin with that.”
Trump has taken a more measured position. “Iran was part of it,” he told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday night, while defending his decision to launch the war.
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The following Wednesday, Trump again backed Hegseth, saying: “I think he’s doing a very good job.”
Even so, the president is reported to have privately asked aides and congressional allies whether he should remove Hegseth. The move would echo former President George W. Bush’s decision to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld the morning after the 2006 midterms, when opposition to the Iraq war helped Democrats seize control of Congress.
Peter Feaver, a Duke University scholar of civil-military relations, cautioned against placing too much weight on those reports, noting that Trump frequently reconsiders the position of members of his cabinet. “It is not a certain sign that you are about to be fired,” he said.
“Every few months, there is a surge of stories claiming Secretary Hegseth is on his way out. Those reports have consistently been wrong because he has retained the president’s confidence.”
CBS News reported that Ron DeSantis, whose tenure as Florida governor ends in January, is being discussed as a possible successor to Hegseth.
Sources dismissed that possibility, partly because DeSantis has recently criticized Trump and other Republicans, and partly because his presidential ambitions could make him reluctant to join an unpopular administration.
Hegseth may also harbor political ambitions. He ran for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012 but withdrew before securing the Republican nomination.
In August, he campaigned for a Republican in Iowa, an important stop for politicians considering presidential bids. NBC News has reported that Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer Hegseth, have discussed a possible presidential campaign with close advisers.
The couple has established residency in Tennessee, where Blackburn—one of Trump’s closest Senate allies—will give up her seat to move into the governor’s mansion and choose her successor.
Sources say the apparent mockery directed at Hegseth has now extended to his wife, Jennifer
Republican Marsha Blackburn will leave her Senate seat for the governor’s mansion and has been mentioned as a possible route for Hegseth’s political future
Appointing Hegseth would provide him with a soft landing, allowing him to avoid both the threat of impeachment and the humiliation of being fired by Trump.
Last month, he attended a University of Tennessee football game with Blackburn. Her office has not responded to questions about whom she intends to appoint.
The Pentagon has dismissed the speculation as “Beltway gossip.” Asked this week about the possibility of a Senate appointment, Trump said: “I actually think he’d be very popular if he did that.”
However, an aide to a senior elected Tennessee Republican told the Daily Mail on Thursday that party leaders in the state “aren’t keen on being dumped with” what he described as a “Hegseth hot potato.”
Inside the Pentagon, officials described the post-election mood as “giddy.” The feeling was not primarily partisan—many employees are Republicans—but reflected the belief among Hegseth’s critics that the administration’s broader backlash and the unpopularity of the Iran war could bring about his removal sooner than expected.
Outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie, a prominent critic of the war and of both Trump and Hegseth, renewed his pledge to force an impeachment vote next week.
“There is one circumstance in which I will not reintroduce the articles of impeachment: if Hegseth resigns,” he posted on X Wednesday.
“He is not only incompetent and corrupt, but is also undermining our national security and putting our troops at risk,” Democratic Representative Jason Crow, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote Wednesday afternoon.
Military experts warn that another major attack on Iran could leave American forces dangerously vulnerable
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined those questioning Hegseth’s future, asking Thursday: “Why is Pete Hegseth still around?”
“Every day he remains at the Pentagon is another day when our service members—our men and women, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters—face greater danger.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries added to the criticism Thursday morning, posting: “Why is Pete Hegseth still around?”
Nevertheless, impeachment is far from certain.
No cabinet secretary has ever been successfully removed from office through impeachment.
William Belknap, President Ulysses Grant’s secretary of war, and Alejandro Mayorkas, President Joe Biden’s homeland security secretary, were both impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.
Even with bipartisan backing, and even if lawmakers accelerated the process, congressional aides say impeachment could still take weeks or months to move through both chambers.
Pentagon insiders fear that the delay would give Hegseth, other advisers, Israel and Saudi Arabia too much time to persuade Trump to authorize another massive strike on Iran in an attempt to end the war militarily rather than diplomatically.
They and military scholars told us such an operation would expose American troops to unprecedented danger.
Grieco estimates that if the US had to intercept Iranian missiles at a rate comparable to last winter, depleted supplies could leave American forces without the Patriot interceptors needed for protection “in about three weeks.”
“We would see more Iranian drones get through, and more of their missiles would penetrate our defenses,” she said.
“The question is whether another round of strikes would be worth the price. What would it achieve that was not achieved by the previous strikes?”
“There is no evidence that another attack would advance US objectives.”
“At some point, the United States will have to accept a strategic loss,” she added.
Three Pentagon insiders said they feared the administration was too determined to claim victory over Iran to pull back.
“It could become a bloodbath,” said Army officials who consider Hegseth “reckless enough” and Trump “so desperate to win something—anything” that a second major confrontation with Iran remains plausible.
Another Army official drew a comparison with the monthly evangelical worship services Hegseth has held during working hours at the Pentagon.
Although attendance is meant to be voluntary, many senior Defense Department officials, including non-Christians, have reportedly felt pressured to attend in person or watch the services live on the internal television network, fearing retaliation from Hegseth.
“If we could hold a prayer meeting for him to be sent packing, most of us would be happy to attend.”