Dem
47
GOP
53
There was quite a fair bit of late-breaking news this weekend. The Supreme Court's decision (see below). Pope Francis passing away (see below, again). And so, we had to hold off until today on the late-breaking news about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. For those who haven't heard by now, it turns out that (surprise!) the chat that accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic was not the only one that included people who should not be privy to, you know, plans for an attack that is about to happen.
The new reporting comes from The New York Times. The outlet talked to four different people who all said that at the same time the Signal chat with all the big Trump administration honchos was underway, there was a different chat with much the same information, and it included Hegseth's wife, Jennifer, his brother, Phil, and his personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore. The latter duo are Pentagon staffers (after all, nepotism is alive and well), but have no clear need to be kept apprised of ongoing attack plans. Meanwhile, Jennifer Hegseth is not employed by the government at all.
Some outlets reported this as another case of "bad judgment" by the Secretary. We're not so sure that applies here. Bad judgment is about making a poor choice, either because you misjudged the consequences or you just didn't know better. At this point, it seems pretty clear that Hegseth has moved from "bad judgment" territory into "the rules don't apply to me" land, and that he prioritizes showing off for friends and associates how big and swinging his di** is over such trivial concerns like, you know, national security.
And so, it's time for another round of "Will Hegseth be fired?" On one hand, Donald Trump, Karoline Leavitt and other prominent White House staffers are rallying behind Hegseth, and declaring that this is all the fault of the liberal media. On the other hand, there is so much unhappiness in the Pentagon over Hegseth's carelessness and his incompetent leadership, some Republican members of the House are calling for his ouster, and NPR is reporting that the process of finding a replacement for Hegseth is underway.
What seems clear to us is that Trump is having buyer's remorse about tapping Hegseth, but that he also doesn't want the embarrassment of admitting after just 3 months that he blew it on such a high-profile job. Our guess, such as it is, is that Hegseth exits sometime in the next month, and that the administration finds a way to frame it as Hegseth's choice. That said, if anyone seems like the type to say "I'm not going to leave voluntarily," it's Pete Hegseth. So, Trump might end up left with no choice but to fire Hegseth before the Secretary creates an even bigger and more embarrassing scandal. (Z)