Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) on Monday became the first Republican member of Congress to openly indicate support for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth‘s removal from office.
Why it matters: Hegseth is under fire for a series of scandals including the departures of several of his top officials at the Pentagon and new reporting about his use of Signal to discuss sensitive information.
- Several Pentagon officials who left amid allegations of leaking have in turn publicly criticized the Defense Department.
- The New York Times reported Thursday that Hegseth shared information on strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen to a Signal chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
What he’s saying: “The military should always pride itself on operational security. If the reports are true, the Secretary of Defense has failed at operational security, and that is unacceptable,” Bacon told Axios.
- “If a Democrat did this we’d be demanding a scalp. I don’t like hypocrisy. We should be Americans first when it comes to security,” he added.
- Bacon is the chair of a House Armed Services subcommittee and one of just a handful of House Republicans in districts that Kamala Harris carried last year. He first made his comments to Politico.
The other side: President Trump suggested he is standing by Hegseth, telling reporters, “Pete’s doing a great job. Everybody’s happy about him.”
- He said of reports about Hegseth’s Signal use and allegations of dysfunction at the Pentagon: “It’s just fake news, they just bring up stories. It sounds like disgruntled employees.”
- Hegseth similarly dismissed the reporting, with the White House also pushing back on an NPR report that aides are eyeing replacements for him.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
