Republicans join calls to fire Hegseth, calling him 'incompetent'

Republican Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina has urged President Donald Trump to replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, unleashing a sharp rebuke of Hegseth as Tillis prepares to leave office.

The immediate trigger was the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who stepped down after a falling-out with Hegseth. Driscoll visited the White House to submit his resignation to Trump and conveyed concerns that Hegseth was harming Army policy. According to one account, Driscoll grew frustrated after Hegseth transferred key Army priorities — including preparations for future drone warfare — away from the Army Department and into the office of Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg, which reports directly to Hegseth.

Tillis spoke highly of Driscoll. Mentioning former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George alongside him, Tillis said, "He and General George ushered in a transformative era in how we deploy our military strength and equip our soldiers." He added that Driscoll "boldly challenged the old ways of managing and procuring our forces" and, above all, "genuinely cared about the soldiers in our Army units and quickly earned their respect."

Tillis reserved his sharpest words for Hegseth. "I've served eight years on the Senate Armed Services Committee, including as chairman and ranking member of the personnel and readiness subcommittee, and I have never seen such incompetent management of the brave men and women who serve our country," he said. He added that Hegseth "fears competent people and retreats to stoking culture wars rather than soberly handling the critical work of national defense and the health and welfare of our combat forces."

Tillis also said that if the secretary of the Department of War shared the same priorities and forward-looking vision, "he would have fought to keep competent leaders like Dan and the many general officers he has forced into retirement." Instead, Tillis said, Hegseth "is creating a leadership vacuum at the very top of our military."

Tillis, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election, had already called for Hegseth's dismissal in an interview with Politico Magazine earlier this year, saying, "I want to see Pete Hegseth fired. He is incompetent and doing a terrible job."

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (local time) that Hegseth operates in a markedly different manner from his predecessors at the Pentagon. He posts videos of himself working out, taunts and provokes not only adversaries but also allies, has dismissed large numbers of senior military commanders, and has sought to reshape the internal culture of the Defense Department.

While some view his aggressive approach as long overdue, senior civilian and military figures close to the Republican Party have been turning away from him.

The White House moved to defend Hegseth. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that after the Joe Biden administration's Pentagon prioritized diversity, equity and inclusion and "woke" policies, "President Trump and Secretary Hegseth quickly changed course" and "restored a Department of War focused on readiness, lethality and support for warfighters."

She added that "the president has complete confidence in Secretary Hegseth and he is doing an excellent job leading the Pentagon."

However, a source familiar with the circumstances behind Driscoll's resignation said Driscoll had raised concerns with the administration about Army reform and readiness — particularly that Hegseth was undermining those efforts by dismissing the generals who had been responsible for carrying them out.