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President Donald Trump has been asking advisers, in person and by phone, whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job after Republicans' sweeping midterm losses, according to a CBS News report published Wednesday and based on multiple sources familiar with the matter. The same report says the president has not decided to replace Hegseth.
One source in the report said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible successor, on the argument that DeSantis could be confirmed by the Senate during the lame-duck session and then take the post when his term as governor ends on January 5. Some White House aides, the report adds, expect part of the blame for the losses to land on the military's Iran-war leadership — Adm. Brad Cooper, who heads U.S. Central Command, and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — alongside Hegseth.
Trump answered the question himself on Wednesday, in public, at the White House ballroom construction site. Asked by CBS News whether he is considering removing Hegseth, he said he is not: "No, I think he's doing a very good job." White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the same in a statement: the president "has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth."
Reporters also asked Trump about speculation that Hegseth could instead be appointed to the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Marsha Blackburn, who won Tennessee's governorship on Tuesday. "I actually think he'd be very popular if he did that. But I haven't heard that at all," Trump said.
People close to Hegseth say he intends to remain in the job for the rest of Trump's term, and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, responding to the investigations and impeachment threats Hegseth faces from the incoming Democratic Congress, said the secretary "will not back down or be deterred" and is "100% committed to leading the department until the end of President Trump's term."
The question matters well beyond Washington. Hegseth runs the department carrying out the Iran war, so who holds his job shapes how that war is fought and the lives of the service members fighting it. And the timing in the report is the point: a successor confirmed in the lame-duck session would face the current Senate, while a nomination left until January would go before the new Democratic majority — two very different roads for the Pentagon's leadership next year.
— Previously posted on Thursday, November 5, 2026 —
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he has no intention of removing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, dismissing reports that he was considering a change after Republicans' midterm election losses.
"No, I think he's doing a very good job," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday when asked whether he was considering replacing Hegseth.
Trump's public backing came as CBS News reported on Wednesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, that the president had been asking advisers in person and by phone whether Hegseth should keep his job after Tuesday's losses. Other sources cited in the report said no decision had been made. The White House said Hegseth retains Trump's support, and spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the president "has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth."
Hegseth, a former Fox News host who advocated for and oversaw the Iran war, faces growing pressure from both parties. Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, plans to force a House vote on articles of impeachment against Hegseth when Congress returns next week. Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said on Tuesday night that "Pete Hegseth has a reckoning," blaming the defense chief for stalled Pentagon spending legislation. Representative Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and Army veteran on the House Armed Services Committee, pledged on Wednesday to work relentlessly to oust Hegseth from office.
Democrats, who won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterms, are preparing to use their new majorities to investigate Hegseth and the administration's handling of the Iran war, with a possible push for his removal next year. Even if the House impeaches Hegseth, removing him from office would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Republicans retain their majority until the new Congress convenes in January.
Trump also acknowledged on Wednesday that the Iran war contributed to Republicans' losses. "I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term," he said of the electoral impact, but insisted he would make the same decision again because Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth does not plan to leave. "We will continue to drive [Trump's] agenda at the Department of War, despite threats of sham witch hunts from Democrats, and Secretary Hegseth is 100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump's term in office," Parnell said. Parnell also dismissed the impeachment threat, saying Hegseth would "not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists."
Not everyone around the White House is convinced Hegseth will survive. A White House official said Trump could still hold Hegseth accountable, saying "that will play out in the lame duck," and a foreign policy source with ties to Hegseth expressed doubt that the secretary would remain in the job through the end of the year. CBS News reported that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement who could be confirmed during the lame-duck session.
Monday, November 9, 2026
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to the impeachment push himself on Monday, saying he was not worried about it — "We're not worried about that" — and announced a rare Pentagon press conference for Tuesday morning to address it. Rep. Thomas Massie was expected to reintroduce updated articles of impeachment on Monday, restarting the two-day clock for a House vote.
Monday, November 9, 2026
Massie released the 34-page draft of his eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth on Monday and gave notice of the privileged resolution, moving to force a House vote and restarting the two-day clock. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday he would vote yes. Massie's case against Hegseth centres on the administration's America First policies — the Iran war, the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the anti-drug boat operations.
Monday, November 9, 2026
Speaking to reporters after a speech at the Naval War College on Monday, Hegseth defended the Iran war as necessary, saying he would do it all over again. "It doesn't have to be necessarily popular, but it can be necessary," he said. He waved off Massie's impeachment push as "noise," declined to blame Vice President JD Vance over Vance's post blaming the war for the midterm losses, praised Vance as a critical member of the team, and announced the rare Pentagon press conference for Tuesday — the first in more than 180 days.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Trump hit back at Massie after the articles were filed, calling him a "total loser" on Truth Social and in the briefing room. "Defeated Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, a total loser, is trying to Impeach perhaps the most popular and successful military official in the Country, Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth," Trump wrote, pointing to "TWO VICTORIES, Venezuela and Iran" and saying Hegseth had driven recruitment to record highs and deserved praise, not removal. "Congress, stand up for Pete!!!" he wrote. In the briefing room he repeated the attack — "Massie is a loser" — and said of Hegseth: "He won two wars." Massie filed the eight articles on Monday and read the 34-page resolution on the House floor.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Massie said on Monday there was a "high probability" Hegseth would not still be in the job by December 31, 2026. He made the claim on CNN's The Source, appearing alongside Rep. Ro Khanna.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Vice President JD Vance defended Hegseth hours before the expected House vote, posting on X on Tuesday morning at 10:36 a.m. that Hegseth had committed "obviously" no impeachable crime and accusing Congress of using impeachment as a substitute for real policymaking. "Legislation is hard. Impeachments are easy (and ultimately, inconsequential)," Vance wrote. The defence was a reversal from Vance's November 4 post blaming the Iran war for the Republican midterm losses — "The reason we lost is the war."
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Hegseth fired back at Massie's impeachment accusation over the operation that captured Nicolás Maduro, rejecting the claim that Maduro was kidnapped and insisting the Venezuelan leader was an indicted fugitive brought to justice in an operation he said lasted just 48 minutes. Trump has described the Venezuela operation the same way.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
The House took the first procedural vote on Massie's eight articles on Tuesday evening — and ended the effort, for this Congress at least. The chamber voted 211-204 to refer the articles to the House Judiciary Committee rather than hold a vote on impeachment itself. Massie was the only Republican to vote against the referral. With the current Congress ending on January 3, 2027, the referral leaves little or no time for the committee to act, and no floor vote on impeachment will follow in this session. The eight articles accused Hegseth of waging the Iran war without congressional authorisation, carrying out unlawful strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, targeting Sen. Mark Kelly over a video telling troops they could refuse illegal orders, and acting without congressional authorisation in the capture of Maduro. Massie said he would not file another impeachment resolution, but plans to force a vote on a war powers resolution. Democrats take control of both chambers in January and could revive the impeachment drive in the new Congress.