Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his self-styled “patriotic cowboys” at the Pentagon once warned adversaries to “fuck around and find out.” Following Tuesday’s election, Hegseth appears to be the one confronting that reality.
Congressional and military sources believe Hegseth’s tenure is nearing its end, with Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, preparing to introduce articles of impeachment this week. Defense officials caution, however, that the embattled secretary has weathered numerous controversies.
In response to mounting pressure, Hegseth launched a coordinated public relations effort, posting a video and photos across Pentagon social media channels featuring the slogan “STAND. FIGHT. DEFEND THE REPUBLIC.” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell insisted Hegseth remains undeterred by what he characterized as “sham witch hunts” and “phony investigations,” adding that the secretary is committed to leading the department through the remainder of President Trump’s term.
While Trump publicly supported Hegseth, telling reporters the secretary is doing a good job, pre-election reports indicated the president had privately consulted advisers about whether Hegseth should remain.
“It looks like his days are very seriously numbered,” said James R. Webb, a Marine Iraq combat veteran who served as a military legislative assistant for Sen. Rand Paul. “If they keep him, he’s probably going to be the first guy impeached by the new Congress.”
The impeachment threat predates the election and may gain momentum with Democrats holding majorities in both chambers. In September, Massie introduced articles accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution, disregarding laws to minimize civilian casualties, and authorizing extrajudicial killings in a boat-strike campaign against suspected drug traffickers that left at least 221 dead. Massie told CNN last week that only Hegseth’s resignation would prevent him from reintroducing the articles when Congress reconvenes.
One rumored exit strategy — a potential appointment to the Senate seat vacated by Marsha Blackburn after her Tennessee gubernatorial victory — was dismissed when Punchbowl News reported Hegseth was not under consideration, a development that did not surprise Webb.
“He has basically burned every bridge possible with people on the Hill,” Webb said. “They don’t like him.”
With no apparent alternative position, Hegseth appears prepared to fight, drawing parallels to Trump in a nearly six-minute video released Thursday.
“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction,” Hegseth said of Massie’s impeachment articles. “Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me.”
A former senior defense official who worked with Hegseth described the video — replete with combative rhetoric, culture-war themes, and a defense of potential conflict with Iran — as “bonkers” following Tuesday’s electoral rebuke of MAGA candidates, but acknowledged it likely resonated with an audience of one: the president.
“He is sending the signal that he’s a tough guy and going to keep fighting,” the former official said, quipping that the speech sounded as though it had been generated by AI. “Hey ChatGPT, what are the things that I can say that are most related to the history of MAGA.”
The strategy mirrors the Roy Cohn playbook — the attorney who aided Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare and later mentored a young Trump: admit nothing, deny everything, never apologize, and claim victory regardless of circumstances.
The video’s tone-deaf quality is consistent with Hegseth’s insulation within an echo chamber of online provocateurs and loyalists, which has shielded him from the professional officer corps that derisively nicknamed him “No Tab Pete” after he failed to earn his Ranger tab as an infantry officer. One former senior officer said Hegseth would never have qualified for the military’s most elite formations, despite his fascination with special operations.
As uncertainty swirls, a sense of anticipation pervades the force. “Folks across the force are listening and waiting,” a senior officer said.
While optimism exists that Hegseth may finally depart, current and former officers and defense officials remained guarded after two years of false alarms regarding his potential removal.
“He has an audience of one, and the president stands behind him,” the former senior defense official said. “If you were asking me to put $100 bucks on it, I’d say he’s staying.”
Should Hegseth leave, many would celebrate; serving under a former Fox News weekend host strained even the most professional soldiers. Hegseth’s two-year tenure divided the ranks. Initially, savvy generals — particularly in the Army — leveraged political cover to enact meaningful reforms in procurement and force modernization. But when Hegseth turned on them, accomplished warfighters embodying the warrior ethos he professes to revere — including Gen. Christopher Donahue, who led elite units and spearheaded Army transformation based on lessons from Ukraine — were removed, apparently for political reasons. Well-qualified officers, both male and female, are reportedly withdrawing from promotion consideration to avoid working under the current leadership.
“Those removed were warfighters,” the senior officer said. “More officers than I can count said that it is so much harder to be good at our jobs under Hegseth.”
The senior officer expressed hope that the next defense secretary will restore professionalism to the Pentagon, prioritizing substance over social media engagement. Most sources laughed at the suggestion of Ron DeSantis as a replacement; many expect the former Florida governor to pursue a 2028 presidential bid, and tying his reputation to a lame-duck administration would be politically disastrous.
Most senior leaders associated with this administration saw their political prospects collapse on Tuesday, leaving Hegseth to rail from the Pentagon steps as the reckoning arrives. As Rep.-elect Richard Ojeda, a retired Army major and newly elected Democratic congressman from North Carolina representing Fort Bragg, posted on X: “Tick tock, No Tab Pete.”