Republican Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon became the first GOP lawmaker to recommend that President Donald Trump oust Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday.
Bacon told Politico that Hegseth’s reported decision to share sensitive information about Houthi rebel attack plans with members of his family was “totally unacceptable” and that he was concerned with the Defense Secretary’s ability to lead the Pentagon. Trump is publicly standing by Hegseth despite a string of controversies related to the secretary’s leadership over the sprawling agency, arguing concerns about Hegseth’s handling of military information is “waste of time.”
“If it’s true that he had another [Signal] chat with his family, about the missions against the Houthis, it’s totally unacceptable,” Bacon said, referring to a report from the New York Times that Hegseth shared sensitive military information with family members using Signal, an unclassified messaging platform. “I’m not in the White House, and I’m not going to tell the White House how to manage this … but I find it unacceptable, and I wouldn’t tolerate it if I was in charge.”
“Russia and China put up thousands of people to monitor all these phone calls at the very top, and the No. 1 target besides the president … would be the secretary of Defense,” Bacon continued. “Russia and China are all over his phone, and for him to be putting secret stuff on his phone is not right. He’s acting like he’s above the law — and that shows an amateur person.”
The Department of Defense (DOD) slammed reporting that Hegseth sent sensitive information on Signal in a statement released Sunday evening.
“The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda,” Senior DOD spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X. “There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story.”
Bacon is a moderate Republican lawmaker who represents one of three GOP-held House districts that Vice President Kamala Harris won in November. He is a retired Air Force brigadier general who serves as chairman of the House Armed Services cyber-focused subcommittee.
The Nebraska Republican previously criticized the Trump administration in March for denying that senior officials inadvertently shared sensitive military data with a journalist on Signal.
Bacon also voiced concern about Hegseth’s leadership abilities following his decision to place three DOD advisors on leave beginning on April 15.
“It looks like there’s a meltdown going on,” Bacon told Politico. “There’s a lot — a lot — of smoke coming out of the Pentagon, and I got to believe there’s some fire there somewhere.”
Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot sharply criticized Hegseth’s alleged mismanagement of the department in an op-ed for Politico published Sunday. Ullyot claimed the Pentagon was in a state of “total chaos” under Hegseth’s leadership, writing, “[A]fter a terrible month, the Pentagon focus is no longer on warfighting, but on endless drama.”
Hegseth told reporters Monday that Ullyot is one of several “disgruntled employees” attempting to ruin his reputation.
Senate Republicans narrowly confirmed Hegseth to lead the Pentagon in January with Vice President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote to approve his nomination. Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska opposed his nomination, citing in part concerns about his lack of experience to lead the Defense department.
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