GOP Rep. Bacon: Hegseth Should Be Fired

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should be fired, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Politico on Monday.

Bacon, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, is the first House Republican to call for Hegseth's removal. His comments come after reports Hegseth shared details of a March attack on Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen in a message group that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.

"I had concerns from the get-go because Pete Hegseth didn't have a lot of experience," Bacon said to Politico. "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."

Bacon said that if he were president, he wouldn't accept Hegseth's missteps.

"If it's true that he had another [Signal] chat with his family, about the missions against the Houthis, it's totally unacceptable," Bacon said. "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."

The congressman said he found it troubling Hegseth would use Signal to discuss classified information.

"Russia and China put up thousands of people to monitor all these phone calls at the very top, and the No. 1 target besides the president … would be the secretary of defense,” Bacon continued. "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."

In another piece published in Politico, former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot said Hegseth had plunged the Defense Department into chaos.

"It looks like there's a meltdown going on," Bacon said. "There's a lot — a lot — of smoke coming out of the Pentagon, and I got to believe there's some fire there somewhere."

Hegseth has shrugged off the issue, blaming it on "leakers and hoaxsters."

• Hegseth Hits Back At 'Leakers,' 'Hoaxsters'
• CNN: Hegseth Demanded Probe Into Leaks