Pete Hegseth is spiraling—and our national security is at risk

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose tenure at the Pentagon has been anything but smooth, recently threatened his staffers with polygraph tests in a frantic bid to stop leaks from inside his department.According to The Wall Street Journal, Hegseth lost it last month after The New York Times correctly reported that Elon Musk had been scheduled to attend a top-secret military briefing on U.S. plans for China. President Donald Trump ultimately barred Musk from the meeting, but the leak infuriated both Hegseth and Trump, setting off alarm bells across the Pentagon. Hegseth reportedly erupted, screaming at then-acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Christopher Gray: “I’ll hook you up to a fucking polygraph!” It wasn’t an isolated outburst. The Journal also reported Hegseth accused Joint Staff Director Doug Sims of leaking the Musk meeting and threatened to strap him into a lie detector, too. Neither man ended up taking one, but the threats alone speak volumes.The Times of London summed it up, writing Hegseth has created “an atmosphere of intimidation.” A Defense official told the paper, “The extraordinary thing is that lie detector tests are being threatened not to uncover potential anti-President Trump civil servants but to catch political appointees suspected of leaking classified or sensitive information.”There’s an irony here. Hegseth is obsessed with keeping tabs on his staff while openly screwing up his own job. He was the one sharing details of a planned strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen over a Signal group chat that erroneously included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief. More recently, he blabbed about the same mission in an unclassified group chat with his brother, his personal lawyer, and his wife. It gets worse. On Thursday, it was reported that Hegseth set up an unsecured internet connection—known as a “dirty” line—in his office to bypass Pentagon security protocols and use Signal on his personal computer. Signal, of course, isn’t approved for classified communication, let alone military operations.“What I’ve seen with Hegseth—never in my life have I ever seen this,” one former Pentagon official told CNN.None of that has slowed Hegseth’s paranoia. Sources told Politico the situation in Hegseth’s office is now a “knife fight.” Senior advisers have been fired or quit. Joe Kasper, his chief of staff, is on his way out. His “inner circle” has shrunk to a single junior, soon-to-retire Marine acting as his top adviser. According to the Journal, Hegseth’s front office no longer has a chief of staff, deputy chief, or senior adviser—feeding talk of a full-on revolving door.The chaos is starting to rattle even Republicans, some of whom have called for Hegseth to resign. “I didn’t believe he had the requisite experience and skills to handle the toughest job in the Cabinet before he was confirmed, and I’ve seen nothing in his performance to disconfirm that judgment,” Eric Edelman, a former top Pentagon official under George W. Bush, told the Journal.Related | Hegseth demands makeup studio at Pentagon to spin his scandalsThe leaks keep coming. So does the paranoia. In public, Hegseth has taken a combative stance toward the press, recently lashing out at CBS News for reporting that he ordered a Pentagon makeup studio upgrade. NPR reports the White House is actively considering replacing Hegseth, though Trump denies it. Still, the fear inside Hegseth’s office is palpable.He’s not the only Cabinet member cracking under pressure. In February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also threatened her staff with polygraphs after leaks from her department. It’s a pattern: insecure, unqualified Cabinet members lashing out when they lose control, only to have those threats leak, which just fuels the spiral.But with Hegseth, the stakes are even higher. He never should have been confirmed in the first place. He barely made it through the Senate after his troubling past—heavy drinking, alleged sexual abuse, and zero real qualifications—came under scrutiny. Now, with national security at stake and Trump watching his every move, the pressure is boiling over.And if this latest leak is any indication, it’s only getting worse.Campaign Action

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose tenure at the Pentagon has been anything but smooth, recently threatened his staffers with polygraph tests in a frantic bid to stop leaks from inside his department. According to The Wall Street Journal , Hegseth lost it last month after The New York Times correctly reported that Elon Musk had been scheduled to attend a top-secret military briefing on U.S.

plans for China. President Donald Trump ultimately barred Musk from the meeting, but the leak infuriated both Hegseth and Trump, setting off alarm bells across the Pentagon. Hegseth reportedly erupted, screaming at then-acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Christopher Gray: “I’ll hook you up to a fucking polygraph!” It wasn’t an isolated outburst.

The Journal also reported Hegseth accused Joint Staff Director Doug Sims of leaking the Musk meeting and threatened to strap him into a lie detector, too. Neither man ended up taking one, but the threats alone speak volumes. The Times of London summed it up, writing Hegseth has created “an atmosphere of intimidation.

” A Defense official told the paper, “The extraordinary thing is that lie detector tests are being threatened not to uncover potential anti-President Trump civil servants but to catch political appointees suspected of leaking classified or sensitive information.” There’s an irony here. Hegseth is obsessed with keeping tabs on his staff while openly screwing up his own job.

He was the one sharing details of a planned strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen over a Signal group chat that erroneously included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief. More recently, he blabbed about the same mission in an unclassified group chat with his brother, his personal lawyer, and his wife. It gets worse.

On Thursday, it was reported that Hegseth set up an unsecured internet connection—known as a “dirty” line— in his office to bypass Pentagon security protocols and use Signal on his personal computer. Signal, of course, isn’t approved for classified communication , let alone military operations. “What I’ve seen with Hegseth—never in my life have I ever seen this,” one former Pentagon official told CNN .

None of that has slowed Hegseth’s paranoia. Sources told Politico the situation in Hegseth’s office is now a “knife fight.” Senior advisers have been fired or quit .

Joe Kasper, his chief of staff, is on his way out . His “inner circle” has shrunk to a single junior, soon-to-retire Marine acting as his top adviser . According to the Journal, Hegseth’s front office no longer has a chief of staff, deputy chief, or senior adviser—feeding talk of a full-on revolving door .

The chaos is starting to rattle even Republicans, some of whom have called for Hegseth to resign . “I didn’t believe he had the requisite experience and skills to handle the toughest job in the Cabinet before he was confirmed, and I’ve seen nothing in his performance to disconfirm that judgment,” Eric Edelman, a former top Pentagon official under George W. Bush, told the Journal.

Related | Hegseth demands makeup studio at Pentagon to spin his scandals The leaks keep coming. So does the paranoia. In public, Hegseth has taken a combative stance toward the press, recently lashing out at CBS News for reporting that he ordered a Pentagon makeup studio upgrade.

NPR reports the White House is actively considering replacing Hegseth, though Trump denies it. Still, the fear inside Hegseth’s office is palpable. He’s not the only Cabinet member cracking under pressure.

In February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also threatened her staff with polygraphs after leaks from her department. It’s a pattern: insecure, unqualified Cabinet members lashing out when they lose control, only to have those threats leak, which just fuels the spiral. But with Hegseth, the stakes are even higher.

He never should have been confirmed in the first place. He barely made it through the Senate after his troubling past— heavy drinking , alleged sexual abuse , and zero real qualifications —came under scrutiny. Now, with national security at stake and Trump watching his every move, the pressure is boiling over.

And if this latest leak is any indication, it’s only getting worse..