Defense Secretary Sneaky Pete Hegseth has so far stayed in the good graces of President Trump, unlike some of his cabinet colleagues. Contemporaries of his, such as Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and Tulsi Gabbard, have run amok with the president for embarrassing him, not carrying out his strange, demented directives, or both.

Hegseth has had his share of bloopers. But he has remained dutifully loyal to Mr. Trump while making personnel and other decisions that have been detrimental to his department and the country as a whole.

And while Sneaky Pete has angered members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, he might have finally stepped over the line with the president. In the process of conducting Trump’s mission-less, mindless, forever war in Iran. Hegseth has presided over a national security crisis that could have lasting effects on U.S. defense capabilities worldwide. The fact that this occurred as he was carrying out specific orders from the president matters not to Mr. Trump. The honeymoon might be over, and Hegseth may be out the door.

Pete Hegseth’s MAGA Journey

After Mr. Hegseth left Fox News to join Mr. Trump’s cabinet, his inexperience and ineptitude led to several embarrassing moments. There was, of course, SignalGate, a group chat of administration officials getting briefed about upcoming attacks on Yemen. Two problems with this. The Signal app is an unsecured communications source, and Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, had accidentally been included in the group by then national security advisor Mike Waltz.

It was later reported by the New York Times that Hegseth had shared details on the attack in a second Signal chat with his wife, brother, and personal lawyer. Then in December 2025, a $400 million military aid package for Ukraine was approved by Congress. But unbeknownst to President Trump, the money remained stalled at the Pentagon for months. Hegseth told the House Armed Services Committee that the funding had been delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles that had finally been resolved.

The funds were supposedly released on April 30, 2026. However, not all of the funds had been used, or the report on the expenditures list had not been sent to Congress as of two weeks ago. He again withheld funds appropriated to Ukraine in early July, saying it was part of a review to ensure that military stockpiles hadn’t dwindled too low.  Again, after Mr. Trump heard of the stoppage, he immediately greenlit the resumption of the activities. In Trump’s words, “The weapons are needed so that Ukraine can defend itself.”

Displeasure of the Secretary’s Actions

Some Republican Senators are upset with Hegseth over his dismissal of key military personnel over the past year and a half. These actions have been exacerbated by the administration’s witch-hunt on all things DEI, as a disproportionate number of terminated high-ranking officials have been either women or persons of color.

Included in that group are Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the second Black man to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as Chief of Naval Operations.

In addition, this year, Hegseth has blocked the promotions of at least 40 senior officers to general and admiral ranks. And a full half of those have been women or persons of color. This has led to comments like this one from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).

If the rumors are true that Hegseth is trying to sideline General Chris Donahue, one of our nation’s finest warfighters, by downgrading U.S. Army Europe-Africa to a 3-star command, he is taking another step down a dangerous path. A step that is not in the best interests of our nation or our servicemembers.”

Or these from Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). “I find this deeply troubling. These are men and women who volunteered to serve our country and swore an oath to support and defend our Constitution. Collins went on to say that she was especially disappointed that women and people of color were “disproportionately” fired or sidelined. This will likely discourage well-qualified women and individuals of color from joining the armed forces, thus depriving us of their talent, dedication, and patriotism.”

In Trump’s Crosshairs

Last week, Hegseth drew the ire of the president when Trump questioned his Défense Secretary why he hadn’t been informed that the United States’ shortages of long-range guided missiles and air-defense interceptors were still an issue. Due to the shortage, Trump has cancelled massive air strikes against Iran, including one he referred to as the biggest attack since World War II. Hegseth, true to his character, blamed the shortages and the lack of communication to the president on his deputy, Stephen Feinberg.

Trump has denied that the exchange ever occurred and has expressed his complete confidence in Mr. Hegseth. Not only are the shortages affecting our ability to wage war against Iran, but experts worry that we have depleted our munitions in Europe and Asia. Analysts fear that this may embolden China and Russia to initiate hostilities toward Iran and our NATO allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country desperately needs long-range missiles and interceptors to continue to ward off Russian attacks on his country. President Trump’s response to Zelenskyy’s plea was, “We want missiles too.”