Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a former Air Force general, became the first Republican lawmaker to suggest that "amateur" Pete Hegseth should be fired from his post as secretary of Defense, according to a new report in Politico.
Hegseth, an ex-Fox News host who underwent a challenging confirmation process, is under fresh fire following a New York Times report Sunday of a second unsecured Signal app chat about attack plans that included his wife and brother.
“I had concerns from the get-go because Pete Hegseth didn’t have a lot of experience,” Bacon said. “I like him on Fox. But does he have the experience to lead one of the largest organizations in the world? That’s a concern.”
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Bacon continued, “If it’s true that he had another [Signal] chat with his family, about the missions against the Houthis, it’s totally unacceptable. I’m not in the White House, and I’m not going to tell the White House how to manage this … but I find it unacceptable, and I wouldn’t tolerate it if I was in charge."
Bacon said the number one hacking target for Russia and China besides the president of the United States would be the secretary of Defense.
“Russia and China are all over his phone, and for him to be putting secret stuff on his phone is not right. He’s acting like he’s above the law — and that shows an amateur person.”
Bacon added, “It looks like there’s a meltdown going on" in Hegseth's department. “There’s a lot — a lot — of smoke come out of the Pentagon, and I got to believe there’s some fire there somewhere.”
At Sunday's White House Easter egg roll, Trump maintained his confidence in Hegseth and implied that his Defense secretary was being targeted by the media.
"Here we go again. Just a waste of time. He is doing a great job," Trump said.