Former Democratic Rep. Max Rose shot down reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is eyeing a Senate seat in Tennessee, predicting on MS NOW that President Donald Trump will fire him as soon as the midterms are over.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, rumors about a Hegseth Senate run began circulating among Republicans after he attended a Tennessee football game earlier this month. If Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wins her race for governor, she would appoint her own replacement in the Senate, and Hegseth lived in Tennessee for a little under three years before taking over the Pentagon.
Puck reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell, who broke the story, said a person close to the administration told her Hegseth is “absolutely interested.” A Pentagon spokesman told Fox News that Hegseth’s “singular focus is leading the War Department” and that “all other speculation is foolish.”
Rose wasn’t buying it.
“I actually think none of this is going to happen because the day after the election, Donald Trump’s going to fire Pete Hegseth,” he said.
He compared the situation to 2006, when President George W. Bush announced Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation the day after Republicans were routed in the midterms.
“The Republicans will lose the Senate and the House because of this reckless war in Iran that has continued to catalyze an absolutely affordability crisis throughout the country,” Rose said. “It is Pete Hegseth’s fault. He will be fired, and so he’s not going to become a senator. He’s not going to become impeached. He will become unemployed. That’s it.”
The former congressman, an Army veteran, also tore into Hegseth’s record of “continuous culture wars,” from testosterone levels to restricting women in combat roles to reinstating troops who refused COVID vaccine orders.
“It has nothing to do with how to conduct a war and protect the United States of America,” Rose said. “He is the one that has taken his eye off the ball. He is the one that has driven this country into this reckless, intractable, prolonged war.”
Hegseth’s troubles could also arrive sooner than January. Caldwell noted that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has impeachment resolutions against Hegseth that must be voted on when Congress returns in two weeks. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also vowed to investigate Hegseth if Democrats win the House.
Caldwell said some Senate Republicans are quietly hoping Rose is right.
“There are Republicans on Capitol Hill in the Senate who are hoping that the president does exactly what Max said, which is fire Pete Hegseth immediately after the election,” she said. That would spare them an impeachment fight and give them time to confirm a replacement before the new Congress is sworn in.
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