{"id":229877,"date":"2026-11-05T19:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T19:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pete-hegseth-may-take-fall-for-republicans-midterm-losses-despite-trump-support-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T19:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T19:08:19","slug":"pete-hegseth-may-take-fall-for-republicans-midterm-losses-despite-trump-support-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pete-hegseth-may-take-fall-for-republicans-midterm-losses-despite-trump-support-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Hegseth may take fall for Republicans\u2019 midterm losses, despite Trump support – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

JD Vance calls Iran war into question as Thomas Massie renews call for impeachment
US midterms 2026 live \u2013 latest updates<\/a>
Send us your questions about the US midterms results and Democrats\u2019 \u2018blue wave\u2019<\/a>
Pete Hegseth is increasingly looking like he may take the fall for Republicans\u2019 midterm losses, despite Donald Trump\u2019s vocal support for his defense secretary, even calling him a champion of war.
The war in Iran, which voters and Trump have named as a key reason for Republicans\u2019 midterm losses, \u201chas been primarily a Department of War-led effort because you chose to take military action to resolve a foreign policy matter\u201d, a former senior Pentagon official told CNN<\/a>.
\u201cIf the president is serious about anyone taking responsibility for it, it\u2019s Pete Hegseth,\u201d one Republican close to the White House added in an interview with CNN. \u201cPete has been either dishonest or incorrect \u2013 neither of which are acceptable \u2013 about timelines, goals and objectives since the beginning.\u201d
On Wednesday, JD Vance publicly questioned whether the Iran war was worth it and said it cost Republicans<\/a> control of Congress.
Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, has already filed eight impeachment accusations against Hegseth, and plans to soon force a House vote on the impeachment.
Trump has repeatedly defended Hegseth and, in speaking with reporters on Wednesday about whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, said: \u201cNo, I think \u2060he\u2019s doing a very good job.\u201d
Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary, said: \u201cThe entire Department is unified behind the Secretary\u2019s vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first,\u201d in a statement to USA Today<\/a> on Wednesday.
Trump has described Hegseth as a key proponent of the unpopular conflict, saying on 23 March: \u201cPete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said: \u2018Let\u2019s do it, because you can\u2019t \u2060let them have a nuclear weapon.\u2019\u201d
Hegseth has been a polarizing figure in American politics and has made enemies even with his own Republican party.
Thom Tillis, the Republican US senator, told CBS News on Tuesday night that Hegseth had \u201ca reckoning\u201d coming and his strained relationship with lawmakers was undermining the Trump administration\u2019s push for a $1.5tn defense spending package in Congress.
\u201cI think after the election, we need to determine whether or not he\u2019s the best person to bring those needs to Congress if he wants something done before the end of this Congress, which is only 60 days away,\u201d Tillis said as the midterm results came in.
Democrats have promised to investigate Hegseth and his handling of the Pentagon, and aides say that could include everything from his handling of the Iran war to his purges of top military officers, including the chair of the joint chiefs of staff.
He could also face \u200cscrutiny over his Ukraine policy and US military<\/a> strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in Latin American waters, which some Democrats say could amount to war crimes.
Adam Smith, the Democratic representative who is expected to lead the House armed services committee next year, promised vigorous oversight on everything from the Iran war to what he called the erosion of the \u201capolitical foundation of the armed forces\u201d.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JD Vance calls Iran war into question as Thomas Massie renews call for impeachmentUS midterms 2026 live \u2013 latest updatesSend us your questions about the US midterms results and Democrats\u2019 \u2018blue wave\u2019Pete Hegseth is increasingly looking like he may take the fall for Republicans\u2019 midterm losses, despite Donald Trump\u2019s vocal support for his defense secretary, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":229878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}