Rep. Don Bacon became on Monday the first GOP elected official to suggest that Pete Hegseth should be removed as Secretary of Defense.
"I had concerns from the get-go because Pete Hegseth didn't have a lot of experience," Bacon said on an interview. "I like him on Fox. But does he have the experience to lead one of the largest organizations in the world? That's a concern," he added.
Bacon went on to clarify that it's not his place to make any formal suggestions, but he wouldn't tolerate the current state of chaos at the Pentagon if he were running the White House.
"If it's true that he had another chat with his family, about the missions against the Houthis, it's totally unacceptable," Bacon said, referring to a New York Times report on Sunday revealing that Hegseth also shared the details of the March 15 attack in another chat that included his wife and about a dozen other people.
The account said the details were similar to those detailed in the first chat, including flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets involved in the mission. The group chat with his wife was reportedly created before Hegseth was named Defense Secretary.
"Russia and China are all over his phone, and for him to be putting secret stuff on his phone is not right. He's acting like he's above the law — and that shows an amateur person," Bacon said. According to the NYT report, Hegseth was already told to move anything that's work-related to a different phone. However, the Defense Secretary allegedly did not comply.
NPR reported on Monday that the White House is looking to replace Hegseth, but the account was disputed by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said the "story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about."
Hegseth also reacted to the reports, saying: "What a big surprise that a bunch of leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out." "This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations," he added.
Hegseth's shaky standing is not circumscribed to the Signal channels. Days before, John Ullyot, who recently resigned as the Pentagon's top spokesperson, said in a Politico op-ed that there is "total chaos" at the moment and that the "dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president." He went on to accuse Hegseth's team of "falsehoods" about why three top officials were fired last week and said the secretary is "now presiding over a strange and baffling purge" that left him without senior advisers.
Originally published on Latin Times
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