Trump weighs replacing Hegseth after Republican midterm losses

What CBS News reported

According to several sources cited by CBS News, President Donald Trump has asked advisers, both in person and by telephone, whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should remain in his post after Republicans suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections held on Tuesday, 3 November. The same sources said part of the blame could be directed at Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads US Central Command, and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both of whom played important roles in guiding the war in Iran. Other sources cited by CBS said Trump had not yet decided whether to remove Hegseth. One source said Florida's Republican governor Ron DeSantis was being floated as a possible replacement. The argument is that DeSantis could go through Senate confirmation during the transition period and take the post when his term as governor ends on 5 January.

Democratic control and impeachment pressure

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, and the new majority is set to take up impeachment. Before the vote, Democrats had already tried to start impeachment proceedings against Hegseth. In late October, Trump warned Democrats in Congress against launching such a procedure if they regained the House, and he threatened retaliation if they did. Representatives Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) have both suggested impeaching Hegseth. The likelihood of a new attempt may grow once the new Congress is sworn in, when Democrats will control both houses.

The Iran war and the blame game

Vice President JD Vance wrote in a long post on X on the morning of Wednesday, 4 November, that the reason Republicans lost was the war. Trump told reporters that the war with Iran was worth fighting to keep Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and he conceded that the conflict had contributed to the Republican losses. He said he would not have done anything differently in the war and that he had no objection to Vance's post. The war has also pushed up prices in the United States, including gasoline. Asked by reporters on Wednesday, 4 November, whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, Trump denied it and said Hegseth was doing a very good job.

Defense budget plans in doubt

Republicans have relied on reconciliation, a simple-majority funding route, to pay for flagship projects such as Golden Dome, but that option is now a long shot for the coming months and impossible after that. A Wednesday note from TD Cowen's Washington Research Group warned that 'Trump branded projects are dead' and said Golden Dome, Golden Fleet and other signature efforts will be curbed. Todd Harrison, a defense budget expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the lame-duck session is unlikely to pass reconciliation and that the defense budget will run under a continuing resolution into next year. Several Republicans who sit on defense-related committees also lost. Sen. Susan Collins, the appropriations chairwoman, lost to Troy Jackson in Maine, Sen. Darline Graham lost to Annie Andrews in South Carolina, and Rep. Jen Kiggans lost to Elaine Luria in Virginia. Harrison summed up his view of the budget outlook this way.

“My base expectation is nothing happens on the defense budget.”

Calls for accountability and the White House reply

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the appropriations, armed services and intelligence committees, told Axios that Hegseth would now have to answer for his record.

“Secretary Hegseth's chaotic and incompetent leadership has made America weaker and less safe, and now he will be forced to answer for it.”

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that Trump has full confidence in Hegseth. She also praised military operations in Iran and Venezuela and Hegseth's efforts to reverse priorities set under former president Joe Biden, which she described as DEI and woke ideology. As of 4 November, Trump had not announced a decision on Hegseth's future at the Pentagon.