Trump stands by Hegseth after election losses, but other Republicans want him out

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing intense political backlash over the United States' costly and unpopular war with Iran following the historic drubbing Republicans took from Democrats in this week's midterm elections. But President Trump insisted on Wednesday that he is not considering replacing his Pentagon chief — at least not yet.

"No, I think he's doing a very good job," Trump told reporters.

The president also said he was unaware of a report that Hegseth has been quietly angling to fill the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who was elected as the state's next governor this week.

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"I think he's doing a very good job, and I actually think he'd be very popular if he did that. But I haven't heard that at all," Trump said when asked if he would want the defense secretary to fill Blackburn's seat. 

According to CBS News, though, Trump "has been asking advisers" whether Hegseth should stay or go.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has served as defense secretary since January 2025, has been Trump's most visible cheerleader for the Iran war, which the U.S. and Israel initiated in February and which has led to surging oil prices.

Trump acknowledged Wednesday that the Iran war had partly contributed to the midterm election rout that handed Democrats control of Congress. Vice President JD Vance was unequivocal. 

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"The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone," Vance wrote in a lengthy post on X. "The reason we lost is the war."

The vice president did not call out Hegseth by name. But other Republicans did.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, told CBS News that Hegseth faces "a reckoning."

"He is one of the reasons why we don't have the funding or guarantee for defense that we need," Tillis said on election night. "I think after the election, we need to determine whether or not he's the best person to bring those needs to Congress."

Tillis, who voted to confirm Hegseth last year, recently called on Trump to fire him.

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"I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country," Tillis wrote in a scathing assessment of Hegseth on X in September. "He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force. I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it."

When Democrats take control of both the House and Senate next year, they will have the ability to call for hearings and launch investigations into virtually any aspect of the Trump administration — and Hegseth's handling of the military is high on their list.

"In the majority, one of the first things we're gonna do is run Pete Hegseth out of town," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader who is poised to become House speaker in January, said at a rally last month.

They may not have to wait that long.

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Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky and vocal Trump critic, said he intends to force a House vote on articles of impeachment against Hegseth as soon as next week, citing violations of the War Powers Resolution, bypassing Congress on war declarations and unlawful military actions in several countries. (Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth in September, but House Speaker Mike Johnson later canceled the final scheduled voting day before the midterm recess, delaying a vote.)

In a post on X Wednesday, Massie wrote that "there is one contingency in which I won't reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns."

Hegseth, for his part, remains defiant.

"Secretary Hegseth will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told ABC News Wednesday, adding that the defense secretary is "100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump's term in office."

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