Embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may soon have more time to spend with a plastic bottle of Highland Mist, if NPR's anonymous official is right. Hegseth was exposed by the New York Times this weekend as having shared "war plans" online in a second chatroom—this one lacking even the veneer of professional purpose provided by participants in the first chatroom to be exposed.
The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. NPR has reached out to the White House for comment.
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth was sufficiently disgusted by Hegseth to include an f-bomb in official correspondence concerning him, about him. Duckworth, a former Black Hawk pilot and combat veteran, wrote that Hegseth's "singular stupidity" is an open threat to national security.
"How many times does Pete Hegseth need to leak classified intelligence before Donald Trump and Republicans understand that he isn't only a fckng liar, he is a threat to our national security?" Duckworth posted on Sunday, repeating the epithet.
And it looks like his time's up, though the NPR's report is as preliminary as it gets. Replacements under consideration likely include "secretive" DOP donor and defense insider Steve Feinberg—currently Hegseth's deputy, if not provider of any visible adult supervision—and Florida U.S. senator Ron DeSantis, posed by the Wall Street Journal as a fallback candidate when it looked like Hegseth's confirmation was in doubt.
Previously:
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared Yemen attack details in second online chat group
• Hegseth's pledge to remain sober is adorably consequence-free
• Inept: Pete Hegseth accidentally texts U.S. war plans to Atlantic editor, says new report
