File U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to U.S. service members at the Defense Personnel Accounting Agency on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, U.S. March 25, 2025. DOD/U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech/Handout via REUTERS
The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
NPR has reached out to the White House for comment.
This comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues to find himself mired in controversy. NPR has also confirmed with the same official that Hegseth shared details ahead of last month’s Yemen strikes with his wife and brother in a Signal chat on his personal phone, minutes after being updated by a senior U.S. military official. The news of the second Signal group chat about the mission was first reported by The New York Times.
In March, Hegseth shared details about action against Houthi targets in Yemen in a Signal chat with top White House officials that accidentally included a journalist.
Calls escalte for firing Hegseth
Defense Secretary Hegseth’s controversial tattoo, which was visible in a picture shared by the defense secretary on X on March 29 , is of the Arabic word “Kafir,” meaning “infidel” or “nonbeliever.” Via X
Democratic lawmakers said Hegseth could no longer stay in his job.
“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a post to X
“But Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.“
Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who suffered grave injuries in combat in 2004, said that Hegseth “must resign in disgrace.”
A U.S. official at the Pentagon questioned how Hegseth could keep his job after the latest news.
The latest revelation comes days after Dan Caldwell, one of Hegseth’s leading advisers, was escorted from the Pentagon after being identified during an investigation into leaks at the Department of Defense.
Although Caldwell is not as well known as other senior Pentagon officials, he has played a critical role for Hegseth and was named as the Pentagon’s point person by the Secretary in the first Signal chat.
“We are incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended,” Caldwell posted on X on Saturday. “Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door.”
Following Caldwell’s departure, less-senior officials Darin Selnick, who recently became Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff, and Colin Carroll, who was chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, were put on administrative leave and fired on Friday.
NPR/ Reuters