Replacements for embattled War Secretary Pete Hegseth are increasingly being discussed at the Pentagon, according to current and former defense officials.
uncertain
Replacements → discuss → officials
Mike Waltz, the disgraced former national security adviser at the center of the 2025 Signalgate messaging scandal and currently U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has also been mentioned.
asserted
Waltz → disgrace → Nations
Those and other names have emerged as Hegseth is facing down a bipartisan impeachment effort as early as next week and is in a mad scramble to hold onto his job.
asserted
Hegseth → emerge → job
Officials acknowledged that both DeSantis and Waltz were dismal choices, but all who spoke with The Intercept said even the most problematic picks would be preferable to Hegseth, who has been excoriated at the Pentagon and beyond for Signal-gate, his purge of top military leaders, his inability to defeat Yemen’s Houthis in 2025 or win the Iran war in 2026, his campaign of extrajudicial killings in attacks on so-called drug boats, his efforts to weaken transparency and scuttle accountability, and his obsession with troops’ testosterone levels, among other distractions.
asserted
who → acknowledge → distractions
In the wake of an election rout that handed Democrats firm control of the House and the Senate, Hegseth is in the crosshairs of lawmakers whom he has treated with contempt for two years.
asserted
he → hand → years
“Dead man walking,” said one official in an exposé published by The Intercept Thursday.
asserted
official → walk → Intercept
Hours after publication of that report, Hegseth launched a desperate bid to stave off his ouster, employing his Fox News-host-honed skills at fanning culture war flames to air his grievances and whip up the support of his boss and the MAGA faithful.
asserted
Hegseth → launch → boss
In a video posted on X, the self-styled secretary of war pulled out the stops:
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secretary → post → stops
“He literally took a bullet for this nation,” Hegseth said amid obsequious flattery of Trump.
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Hegseth → take → Trump
“He shook his fist and said ‘fight, fight, fight,’ and so will we.”
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we → shake → fist
The chief of what he recently called “the most powerful, most lethal and most prepared military on the planet,” Hegseth cast himself as a besieged victim and tied himself to Trump in a naked attempt to save his job.
asserted
Hegseth → call → job
“A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly, just like they tried against President Trump twice,” Hegseth carped in a video filmed outside the Pentagon.
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Hegseth → drop → Pentagon
Hegseth was referring to outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who said Wednesday that he plans to reintroduce articles of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors when the House is back in session next week.
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House → refer → session
Numerous Democrats have indicated a desire to join Massie’s effort to oust Hegseth since their midterm election landslide, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is poised to be the next speaker.
asserted
who → indicate → York
Hegseth’s missive to Trump hit many hot-button issues that Americans seemingly repudiated in Tuesday’s electoral landslide.
asserted
Americans → hit → landslide
He boasted about driving “the weird and the woke” out of the military and took aim at his and Trump’s enemies.
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He → boast → enemies
“Why do the Democrats and the deep state radicals really hate us?
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Democrats → hate → us
Because we tore down their sacred cows one by one and without apology,” said Hegseth, who rattled off a list of things he has torn down, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; military efforts to combat climate change; the rechristening of military bases named for Confederate leaders; and the rights of trans service members.
asserted
he → tear → members
Hegseth’s video rant was part of a doomsday plan coordinated by chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, first reported by CNN and corroborated by a defense official who spoke with The Intercept.
asserted
who → coordinate → Intercept
It was accompanied by a coordinated campaign of social media posts by Pentagon underlings trying to tie Hegseth’s fortunes to the president, consisting of photos of the war secretary posturing accompanied by the text, “STAND.
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secretary → accompany → text
While it was a brazen attempt to cast any future effort by Trump to cut him loose as an enormous defeat for the president, officials said Parnell’s Hail Mary could succeed.
uncertain
Mary → cast → president
“It’s sad.
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It → ’ → ?
But it may work because Trump is so easy to manipulate,” said one defense official.
uncertain
official → work → ?
“Hegseth knows he is dealing with a president with the mind of a three-year-old.”
asserted
he → know → old
During the Pentagon’s Thursday afternoon social media blitz, one of those Hegseth underlings messaged this reporter a clip from the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” in which Leonardo DiCaprio’s stockbroker character pivots mid-way through announcing his resignation and a deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission, declaring: “I’m not fucking leaving! …
asserted
I → message → Commission
They’re gonna need a fuckin’ wrecking ball to take me outta here!”
asserted
They → go → me
The House has only impeached two Cabinet secretaries: William Belknap, the secretary of war, in 1876; and Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, in 2024.
asserted
House → impeach → 2024
In neither case did the Senate vote to convict.
asserted
Senate → vote → case
Should Massie’s lame-duck impeachment measure succeed in the House, it would likely languish in the Senate where Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would have little incentive to bring it to a vote, said a congressional staffer for a member on the Armed Services Committee.
asserted
staffer → succeed → Committee
Still, some pundits predict Hegseth may not survive the weekend, much less the month or the year.
uncertain
Hegseth → predict → weekend
If and when Hegseth is ousted, there will be no shortage of people jockeying to take his place.
asserted
Hegseth → oust → place
In addition to DeSantis and Waltz, other names bandied about at the Pentagon or on Capitol Hill include Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a retired military officer who chose not to run for reelection this year, as well as failed Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who was defeated by Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
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who → bandy → Sayed
Some of those names were mentioned in a Thursday post on X by James Stavridis, a retired four-star Navy admiral, former supreme Allied Commander of NATO, and partner and vice chair of Carlyle, a global investment firm with deep Pentagon ties.
asserted
Some → mention → ties
Stavridis also named Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state.
asserted
Stavridis → name → state
While DeSantis and Trump had been bitter rivals during the 2024 Republican presidential primary campaign, the outgoing Florida governor and assumed 2028 GOP presidential hopeful has since vocally supported Trump’s crackpot initiatives.
asserted
governor → assume → initiatives
To advance Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, DeSantis hastily constructed (and then quickly shuttered) “Alligator Alcatraz,” a detention hellhole that the Department of Homeland Security’s watchdog found did not comply with a slew of federal and state standards.
asserted
watchdog → advance → standards
The Florida governor was also the first official to use Trump’s renamed “Gulf of America” for the Gulf of Mexico, in an official document.
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governor → use → document
Amid the rubble of a devastated Republican Party, DeSantis — a longtime culture warrior who rode what he called what he called “woke gender ideology” to national prominence — quickly pivoted.
asserted
he → devastate → prominence
“The ground shifts and the emphasis, then, is on different things,” he said on Wednesday.
asserted
he → shift → Wednesday
Now, the issues are different and Republicans, it seemed like, in some of the ads I was seeing, with how much money they were spending, they really were fighting yesterday’s battle.”
asserted
they → seem → battle
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
