Pressure is mounting on Pete Hegseth, the Fox News personality turned Secretary of Defense, after fresh fallout from the now-infamous “second Signal chat” leak… with Democrats and even some Republicans now calling for him to step aside from his influential role within Donald Trump’s shadow national security team.
The controversy centers on a failed attempt to set up a second encrypted Signal chat for post-election coordination among Trump’s tightest allies — a channel that never materialized but whose existence and mismanagement were leaked to the press last week. Critics claim the absence of the chat led to disorganization, while the leak itself has raised serious questions about operational security and leadership judgment.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a combat veteran and member of the Armed Services Committee, was blunt in her assessment:
“If Pete Hegseth can’t even manage a group chat without it turning into a national security headache, he has no business anywhere near the Department of Defense.”
Surprisingly, some Republicans are echoing similar concerns — albeit more cautiously.
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) told reporters, “I’m concerned by what I’ve seen. This isn’t just a communications error — it speaks to a broader issue of judgment and discipline. We need leaders who can handle sensitive operations with discretion.”
Another GOP senator, who requested anonymity, said Hegseth “should consider stepping away” before the controversy undermines Trump’s efforts to present a serious and professional national security team.
“The president always expresses support for his team — right until he doesn’t and you read about it in the tweet the next day,” said one person familiar with Trump’s thinking, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the crisis
Meanwhile, Hegseth is digging in. In a brief appearance on Fox & Friends, he dismissed the criticism as “D.C. noise” and framed the calls for his resignation as an attack on “America First warriors.”
“They’re scared because we’re going to clean house. They’ll throw anything they can at us, even fake controversies about group chats,” he said.
Trump, for his part, remains firmly in Hegseth’s corner. In a Truth Social post late Sunday night, he wrote:
“The Deep State and their puppets in Congress HATE Pete Hegseth because he tells the truth and LOVES our military — real warriors, not bureaucrats. Total support for Pete!”
With investigations into the leak ongoing, and whispers of more internal communications possibly making their way into the public sphere, Hegseth’s future remains uncertain — even if his standing with Trump himself appears untouchable, at least for now.