Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon on Monday became the first House Republican to call for Pete Hegseth’s firing. The Defense Secretary has been mired in controversy after a series of scandals, including his use of multiple Signal group chats to discuss sensitive planning information for military strikes abroad, and a staff mutiny at the Pentagon that culminated Sunday in a stunning editorial published by his former top spokesperson that heavily criticized his leadership of the crucial federal department. “The military should always pride itself on operational security. If the reports are true, the Secretary of Defense has failed at operational security, and that is unacceptable,” Bacon, the chair of the House Armed Services subcommittee, told Axios. “If a Democrat did this, we’d be demanding a scalp. I don’t like hypocrisy. We should be Americans first when it comes to security.” Despite the calls for his ouster, President Donald Trump continues to defend Hegseth. “Pete’s doing a great job. Everybody’s happy about him,” the U.S. president told reporters on Monday.
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