Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of government employees and taxpayer-funded resources to create a self-promoting video attacking Democrats and other political opponents probably violated federal law, government watchdogs said Friday.
The video is part of a highly unorthodox Defense Department messaging campaign that debuted on social media Thursday, as Hegseth stepped up efforts to save his job after Republicans’ historic collapse in this week’s midterm elections.
It shows him outside the Pentagon as he criticizes former president Joe Biden along with members of Congress from both political parties who have called for him to resign or be fired. Over roughly six minutes, Hegseth also defends the unpopular Iran war, extols perceived accomplishments in office and heaps praise on his boss, President Donald Trump.
Hegseth’s office confirmed Friday that the video was recorded and produced by Defense Department staff, but declined to address questions about cost and whether it was reviewed for compliance with the federal government’s legal and ethical guidelines.
“The pro-Trump and self-laudatory remarks in the video are clear violations of the ban on using federal funds for propaganda, the specific and repeated mentions of funding bills violates the anti-lobbying statute, and the blatant effort to oppose the Democrats’ agenda for accountability is a potential violation of the Hatch Act,” said Donald K. Sherman, president of the nonpartisan government accountability organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Abigail Bellows of Common Cause, another nonpartisan government watchdog, concurred. Using social media “to criticize Democrats, whether it’s because he’s re-auditioning for his job or any other reason,” is a violation of the law, she said.
Under the Hatch Act, federal employees — including Cabinet secretaries like Hegseth — are prohibited from engaging in “activity directed at the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office” while the employee is on duty or in any federal room or building. The law also bars political appointees and the civilian staff working under them from using social media to advocate for or against a political party.
The video also has raised questions among lawmakers, including Republicans, about the Pentagon’s use of government staff and taxpayer money to create and promote it.
“Cabinet secretaries shouldn’t be wasting taxpayer dollars on campaign-style videos. Kristi L. Noem learned that the hard way,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), who last year cast a decisive vote to confirm Hegseth to lead the Pentagon. Tillis, who is retiring at the end of the year, was referring to a $200 million advertising campaign that Trump’s former homeland security secretary had produced at taxpayer expense shortly before she was replaced by the president.
Hegseth has used the Pentagon’s resources before to broadcast partisan messages praising Trump and attacking Democratic leaders or policies. For example, a Defense Department video released in May on his official X account shows a comic-book-like depiction of Biden smashing a chocolate ice cream cone into his own face as Hegseth says the former president “chronically underinvested” in the military.
Trump, too, was sued in the lead-up to Election Day for diverting more than $20 million in taxpayer funds to create an ad campaign touting his perceived accomplishments since returning to the White House nearly two years ago.
Any investigation or enforcement of suspected Hatch Act violations would have to be carried out by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a course of action that is unlikely after Trump fired the independent agency’s head early in his second term, the government watchdog groups said.
Joe Spielberger, a senior policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, also noted that the special counsel typically refrains from prosecuting suspected Cabinet-level violations because the office strives to stay nonpartisan.
Hegseth faces an impeachment vote in the House as soon as next week. That effort is being led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who has opposed the Iran war. Hegseth attacked Massie in his video Thursday, calling him “disgruntled” and his articles of impeachment a “sham.”
Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance have acknowledged that broad disapproval of the Iran war, which has deepened an affordability crisis throughout the United States, is a leading reason for the party’s electoral losses.
Other top Republicans have stepped up criticism of the defense secretary after Tuesday’s drubbing, in which voters handed significant majorities to Democrats in Congress.
Speaking to NewsNation on Friday, Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), one of the president’s fiercest defenders in Congress, declined to back Hegseth when asked if Trump should replace him. Comer emphasized that lawmakers have “a lot of questions about” the Pentagon chief and want to know how the administration intends to end the Iran conflict, now in its ninth month.
“We have no idea,” Comer said, “what the strategy is moving forward.”
Noah Robertson contributed to this report.
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