Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sat for hearings with Congress this week to discuss his handling of the Iran war, along with fielding questions about the Trump administration’s controversial $1.5 trillion defense spending proposal for 2027. Meanwhile, his support among Republican lawmakers is wavering following his firings of numerous high-profile military leaders, which experts say is both concerning and unusual.
Since becoming head of the Pentagon last year, Hegseth has overseen a dozen dismissals, retirements and reassignments among some of the highest positions in the U.S. military. Among them were the first female commandant of the Coast Guard, the head of the Army’s Chaplain Corps, and a four-star general overseeing the Army’s Transformation and Training Command.
