Most Republicans aren’t willing to denounce Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over alleged security lapses and allegations of mismanagement, but privately, some in the GOP are increasingly worried.
“My boss is livid,” said a Republican staffer granted anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly. “He defended Hegseth the first time around to be a team player, but the second time he’s not — because sending classified info to your wife and personal lawyer is something completely different. If any staffer, lawmaker or agency employee did this, they would be in major legal trouble.”
With President Donald Trump offering full-throated support for Hegseth and dismissing the latest bad headlines as overblown, many Republicans — at least publicly — have closed ranks around the embattled Defense secretary, whose confirmation required party leaders to spend considerable political capital.
But the anger, just below the surface, suggests the good will toward Hegseth could expire if the incidents keep piling up, even, potentially, among some of Hegseth’s original backers during his bruising confirmation fight and the fallout from the first leaked Signal chat.
Since then, the Defense Department has endured a high-level staff purge, a scathing opinion piece from a former senior staffer in POLITICO and fresh revelations that Hegseth shared sensitive details of military operations in a Signal chat with his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
For the most part, Republican lawmakers are publicly downplaying the controversies and turning their ire on the media and internal leakers.
“Pete Hegseth is a warfighter and he’s helping President Trump make sure our country is worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform,” House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said in a post from the committee’s account.
Other Hill Republicans, including some members of the Trump-aligned House Freedom Caucus have expressed concern privately, arguing that the Defense secretary’s conduct is becoming a distraction from the broader Trump agenda.
Still, most frustrated Republicans have not been willing to pull the ripcord by taking their concerns to the White House or putting them on the record — at least not yet.
“Right now, these are unwanted distractions, and we have much, much bigger things to work on together,” said one senior Republican congressional aide also granted anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly. “As long as we can keep our eye on the prize, these things will fade.”
The same aide pointed to the departure of Hegseth’s senior staff last week — including Colin Carroll, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick — as a potential reset opportunity, even as others have pointed to it as a sign of chaos.
“If this gets fixed and there are no more unforced errors, fine,” the aide said. “But the goodwill isn’t unlimited.”
The shortened leash is also evident in who isn’t talking about Hegseth.
Several top defense hawks who publicly backed Hegseth’s confirmation are so far keeping quiet amid the latest firestorm. They include Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who was instrumental in Hegseth’s narrow confirmation in January. Since then, Wicker enlisted Hegseth in his push to ratchet up the defense budget, though he’s clashed with the Pentagon chief as well — and led a push for an investigation into Hegseth’s use of Signal.
So far, a full-blown GOP mutiny hasn’t materialized. Only one Republican, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) — a retired one-star Air Force general whose Omaha-based congressional district Trump lost in 2024 — has suggested Hegseth should lose his job.
That makes Bacon an outlier, both politically and electorally. Most House Republicans represent safe Trump territory, meaning any public break with Trump could cost them with their voters
“The vast majority of the Republican conference is sitting in seats that Trump won, and so going against the president when you’re in that situation is a really fraught thing to do,” said Erin Covey, who leads the Cook Political Report’s coverage of the House. “You’re considering your electoral prospects.”
That political reality has fostered an uneasy silence — a dynamic where lawmakers may privately express consternation or alarm – but publicly toe the line.
“Everyone knows he’s a joke, but he’s the guy to do pushups with the troops,” said one former congressional aide of the mood on Capitol Hill. “Plus, not many want to publicly say anything right now and get on Trump’s bad side.”
Democrats are redoubling their calls for Hegseth to be fired amid the turmoil — and to bemoan Republicans’ unwillingness to buck Trump.
“Pete Hegseth recklessly shared classified information that endangered American servicemembers. He is not qualified to be Secretary of Defense and should have never been confirmed,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) in a statement. “Republicans need to step up and say that Secretary Hegseth needs to resign or be fired.”
In the meantime, allies of the administration are looking to shore up Hegseth.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) — a top surrogate for Hegseth during his rocky confirmation process — declared his support and praised Hegseth’s “exceptional work” in the top job.
“I will lead the breach. I will lay down cover fire. I will take the high ground. I’ll expose myself to enemy fire to communicate,” he wrote Monday on social media. “We must bring back integrity, focus, and put the Warfighter first inside DOD.”
The Republican voicing support for Hegseth includes lawmakers differing ideological camps, with traditional defense hawk Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tweeting support as well as restraint-first Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who proclaimed his “full faith and confidence” in the Pentagon chief.
“The D.C. foreign policy establishment is getting desperate. They’ve tried to take out [Hegseth] twice,” Schmitt said. “Everyone knows exactly what they’re doing. It won’t work.”
In an indicator of Hegseth’s continued good standing in MAGA world, Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, reposted Schmitt’s comments, adding only, “100%.”
Nicholas Wu and Megan Messerly contributed to this report.