Democrat Sen. Bennet Predicts Pete Hegseth May Be the Next Cabinet Member Dismissed
Colorado Senator Michael Bennet has added his voice to the speculation surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s future in the Trump administration, suggesting he could be the next official forced out—despite President Donald Trump’s continued public support.
During a Thursday appearance on MSNBC, the Democratic senator predicted that Hegseth’s days in the cabinet might be numbered.
“I think there’s more to it,” Bennet said. “I think it is an extraordinary moment that even Donald Trump is admitting that he can’t sustain national security advisers who had the wisdom of sharing Signal chain with Jeffrey Goldberg. I think it’s probably the case that what President Trump is maddest about is the fact that he shared it with the reporter from the Atlantic. The real problem is that Secretary Hegseth, the secretary of defense, Somebody who should never have been confirmed to begin with shared battle plans and classified information on that Signal chain.”
Bennet, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, added, “As a member of the Intelligence Committee I’ve rarely seen anything as classified as what Pete Hegseth put out in that Signal chain. And I believe these drum beats are going to grow and grow and grow. And, you know you’ve seen President Trump said, there’s no way Waltz’s ever going to be ejected by his administration and now, he has been. I think Pete Hegseth will not be far behind.”
President Trump, however, brushed off concerns about Hegseth’s position. When asked by ABC News reporter Terry Moran whether he still had confidence in the defense secretary, Trump dismissed the question as “stupid.”
In a prime-time interview marking his 100th day in office, Trump was pressed about Hegseth’s role in an ongoing Pentagon shake-up and his use of the encrypted messaging app Signal for official communications.
“Did you take him to the woodshed?” Moran asked.
“I had a talk with him, and whatever I said, I probably wouldn’t be inclined to tell you, but we had a good talk,” Trump replied.
“He’s a talented guy, he’s young, he’s smart, highly educated, and I think he’s gonna be a very good defense—hopefully a great defense secretary, but he’ll be a very good defense secretary,” the president said.
When Moran asked, “You have 100% confidence in Pete Hegseth,” Trump responded, “We will.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed Trump’s support for Hegseth after allegations emerged that the defense secretary had shared sensitive information about a March military raid in Yemen with his wife, brother, and personal attorney in a Signal group chat.
This marks the second time Trump has reiterated his backing of Hegseth amid Democratic demands for his resignation over the leaked messages discussing a classified operation against Houthi forces aligned with Iran.
The controversy stems from a Signal thread in which Hegseth reportedly shared details of the Yemen strike. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was also included in the chat and later published the complete messages.
Following mounting calls from Democratic lawmakers for Hegseth to step down, reporters questioned whether Trump believed the defense secretary should consider resigning.
“Hegseth is doing a great job, he had nothing to do with this. Hegseth. How do you bring Hegseth into this?” Trump said at the time.
He also downplayed any potential risk caused by the information leak, focusing instead on the operation’s outcome.
“There was no harm done because the attack was unbelievably successful that night,” Trump said.
He further dismissed the broader concerns as politically motivated. “Look, it’s all a witch hunt … you wanna ask about whether or not Signal works, I don’t know if Signal works, I think that Signal could be defective to be honest with you,” Trump said.