Frustrated Congressional Republicans have begun to blame Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon leadership and handling of the Iran war for “hurting our chances” in the midterms.
An unnamed GOP senator made that complaint to Semafor in a report published Monday about how “fuming” Republicans have started pointing the finger at Hegseth as they see their midterm election opportunities slipping away.
The report found Hegseth faces growing Republican resistance to his request for $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon next year, plus $88 billion for war costs.
“There are a lot of people that are really upset with the war in Iran and how it’s being played out. We feel it’s hurting our chances in the elections in the fall, and it seems rather haphazard,” the senator said.
“[W]hy is anybody going to blindly appropriate anything to him?” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who has said he regrets voting to confirm Hegseth, asked Semafor.
Tillis and three other Republican senators recently voted against continuing the war, Semafor reported. Those four votes could sink the party-line budget bill most Republicans want for Pentagon money after the election, which needs 50 of the 53 Republican senators.
Semafor also reported, citing the unnamed senator, that “[i]t does not appear that Hegseth has an executable plan” to secure the hundreds of billions in extra military funding he is requesting.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Hegseth supporter, told Semafor the lack of engagement with Democrats “continues to be a strategic error” for Hegseth.
“We don’t like what we’re seeing when it comes to the pulling of officers off of the promotion lists,” the unnamed senator added. “We don’t like what we see with … indiscriminate firings of admirals and generals across the force.”
“One of my concerns, which unfortunately has been borne out, was that he would fire a lot of very capable military officials, and he has done that. He has blocked promotions for some of our most capable military officers,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, who voted against confirming Hegseth.
Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson told Semafor the department held more than 500 budget briefings and is “in lockstep with the Republican conference in Congress.”
“The president still is very much in Pete’s corner, but beneath him, there are very serious concerns,” a Trump administration official told Semafor.
In the House, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) filed eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth on Sept. 15, accusing him of defying Congress over the Iran war, CBS News reported. The articles also accuse Hegseth of ignoring laws meant to minimize civilian casualties and of ordering killings outside the law, according to ABC News.
“Secretary Hegseth has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Secretary of Defense and subversive of constitutional government,” Massie said on the House floor.
Massie filed the resolution as privileged, which forces the House to take it up within two legislative days, though Republican leaders could vote to set it aside, Axios reported.
The House then canceled a scheduled day of session without holding a vote, The Hill noted.
Massie told CNN it was “actually bad politics” to leave the resolution “hanging over Pete Hegseth’s head” until the House returns in November.
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