Pete Hegseth

Survived the House impeachment drive on Nov. 10 when Republicans referred the articles to committee 211-204. Democrats can revive the resolution in January.

The House voted 211-204 on Nov. 10 to send eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee, ending the effort for this Congress. Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who filed them, was the only Republican to vote against the referral. Eleven Democrats missed the vote.

Updated 42 minutes ago

Reportedly clashed with Trump at Camp David over depleted missile stockpiles; blamed his deputy for not fully informing the president

Iran said two oil tankers hit mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on November 8. A third vessel also burned, bringing the number of ships hit since the start of November to at least 12. The US military disabled a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard later disabled navigation systems on four tankers using a route it considers unauthorized. Ship tracking put Hormuz traffic at about 5% of pre-war levels on November 10.

Updated Yesterday

Said in March 2026 the US was 'accelerating, not decelerating' its war on Iran as more assets headed to the region.

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and hitting nuclear and military sites. A 60-day ceasefire expired on August 18 without renewal, and Iran said it would shift to a 'fully offensive' military posture.

Updated 2 days ago

Overseeing Operation Epic Fury

A U.S. fighter jet destroyed an Iranian surface-to-air missile launcher on Qeshm Island on the night of Nov. 2, after the Revolutionary Guard fired at an American aircraft over the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported. A U.S. official called the strikes on Iranian targets in the strait 'defensive,' and they came the night before midterm elections.

Updated 2 days ago

Receiving intelligence-sharing role; United States not participating in direct combat

Yemen's Saudi-backed government began its 'Dawn of Yemen' offensive on October 4 and initially claimed ground near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Taiz. The Houthis have since fired ballistic missiles at airports in Aden and Mukalla and advanced to within 80 kilometers of Aden, Shafaq News reported.

Updated 3 days ago

Visited Israel October 19 and said US troops are ready to act against Iran

The US struck an Iranian air-defense device on Qeshm Island on November 6, and President Donald Trump called the operation 'minor.' Iran said its air defenses destroyed an American MQ-9 drone over the island, while US Central Command described the situation as 'relatively calm.'

Updated 4 days ago

Confirmed Starlink restoration to UK minister Wes Streeting

Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi pushed Russian forces back 277 square kilometers in the Donbas, freeing 16 settlements. The campaign collapsed an attempted Russian pincer around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the fortress cities it was meant to encircle.

Updated 7 days ago

Oversees leak task force; Pentagon fired Lt. Gen. Sylvia Oct. 29

The Justice Department withdrew grand-jury subpoenas against four New York Times reporters on July 23, after a federal judge questioned how prosecutors obtained them. The subpoenas had sought testimony and phone records tied to the paper's reporting on security gaps in the Qatari-donated Air Force One.

Updated Nov 2

Directed July 29 heavy wave of CENTCOM strikes on IRGC targets across southern Iran

Brent reached $116 a barrel by November 1 as OPEC met and Saudi Arabia's economy contracted 3.8% under the cost of the war and disrupted oil exports. Saudi Arabia restarted the East-West pipeline and resumed loadings at Yanbu in late September, but attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz kept traffic about 70% below prewar levels. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center recorded 144 maritime incidents in the Hormuz region since February 28, making October the worst month of the war.

Updated Nov 1

Agreed with Japan on AMRAAM assembly and SM-3 data sharing

Japan will host a plant that does final assembly and testing of the AIM-120 AMRAAM, the air-to-air missile carried by F-35 fighters. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth agreed to the facility on Oct. 28 in Cebu, Philippines.

Updated Oct 31

Still had not approved European Patriot transfers as of late October; Zelenskyy said on October 26 that Ukraine had waited nearly a month for his sign-off

The State Department approved a possible $2.1 billion sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptors to Ukraine on October 30. Canada, Germany and Norway are paying through a US fast-track program, with a European Union loan covering the rest, and no US government money is involved.

Updated Oct 31

Announced the Confucius Institutes designation on October 23, 2026

The Pentagon designated Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes a national security threat on October 23, 2026, after saying it had dismantled 80 programs that re-formed under new names at 30 US universities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called them "propaganda cells" with "the same mission: to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students."

Updated Oct 29

Briefed all members of Congress and reaffirmed the Pentagon will not publicly release the full, unedited Sept. 2 strike video; now facing NDAA-driven compliance pressure to provide footage and authorizing orders to armed-services committees

The U.S. military's boat-strike campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific has run for more than a year. An independent tally counted 72 strikes and at least 240 deaths by the Oct. 27 attack, which killed five people on a go-fast vessel in the eastern Pacific.

Updated Oct 28

Leading US military response under Operation Epic Fury

American intelligence now says Iran has sharply increased efforts to kill US personnel, with the plotting at what the director of national intelligence called "advanced stages." A memo dated October 23 from Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the threat covers the Middle East and other countries.

Updated Oct 24

Recommended Hasan's execution and pushed to livestream it. After Trump canceled the broadcast, Hegseth said he supported the decision and that the firing squad still has a deterrent effect.

President Donald Trump canceled the livestream of Nidal Hasan's Dec. 3 firing squad execution on Oct. 15. The move reversed a Pentagon plan that drew bipartisan criticism.

Updated Oct 23

Recipient of four-state governors' demand for classified briefing

All five East Coast wind farms that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum froze in December 2025 were back at work by early February, after federal judges in three districts granted preliminary injunctions. The building has gone on since: Ørsted's Revolution Wind finished offshore construction and has sent power to the New England grid since March, and Dominion's Coastal Virginia project is more than 80 percent built and delivering electricity.

Updated Oct 23

Said at AUSA that AutoWarCom was always the end state and proposed $50 billion for autonomous warfare.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Autonomous Warfare Command on September 30 and told the Association of the United States Army in October that the four-star command was always the end state. The command would buy and field drones, robots, and artificial intelligence across the military, with a target stand-up date of October 1, 2027.

Updated Oct 21

Announced Project Meridian and the Autonomous Warfare Command

Project Meridian is underway. Led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich, the Pentagon study met first in a classified room at Quantico on September 30. Oversight now sits with the nonprofit MITRE Corporation.

Updated Oct 18

Named defendant through the Defense Department in the D.C. lawsuit

The troops are still in Washington. The D.C. Circuit's stay kept the deployment in place while the appeal proceeds, and the mission continued through the 2026 election, with Guard members seen at ballot boxes in October.

Updated Oct 16

As of October 2026: Announced the 20% cut to general and admiral positions

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is cutting one in five positions reserved for generals and admirals, roughly 170 senior jobs across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force. He announced the move at his State of the Force address in Quantico, Virginia, on Sept. 30, doubling a reduction he ordered in May 2025.

Updated Oct 1

As of September 2026: Won appeals court ruling upholding the Anthropic designation; a parallel designation was struck down in San Francisco

Anthropic's Claude became the first commercial AI model on classified U.S. military networks in late 2024. In March 2026, the Defense Department labeled the company a 'supply chain risk'—a tag once reserved for foreign adversaries—for refusing to allow mass surveillance of Americans or fully autonomous weapons.

Updated Sep 26

As of September 2026: Argued ceasefire paused War Powers clock; White House declined to submit formal supplemental request

The House passed a war powers resolution 215-208 on June 3. The Senate followed 50-48 in late June, the first time both chambers approved such a measure in this conflict. President Trump ignored it, the ceasefire collapsed in July, and the Senate rejected the latest resolution 49-50 on Sept. 24 as the war passed 200 days.

Updated Sep 25

As of September 2026: In office; has fired or sidelined more than two dozen senior officers

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll left office September 2 after 18 months, the latest departure in a Pentagon leadership shakeup. President Trump named Adam Telle, the Army's civil works chief, acting secretary the next day.

Updated Sep 16

As of September 2026: His driver's license appeared in the Nexus listings

A dark web service called Nexus has been selling scans of more than 153 million driver's licenses from the U.S. and Canada. The images match the work of IDScan.net, a Louisiana company that verifies IDs for Hertz, Target, FedEx and others.

Updated Sep 7

As of August 2026: Ordered to carry out the reduction

President Trump ordered the Pentagon to shrink the largest annual U.S.-South Korea military exercise. The drill ended six days early, on Aug. 21 instead of the planned Aug. 27, after the Pentagon canceled or simulated some live-training events.

Updated Aug 20

As of August 2026: Public face of the US escort operation

The ceasefire draft that leaked in May became real on June 17, when Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding by video call, giving both sides 60 days to reach a final deal. Iran agreed not to build nuclear weapons under the pact. The truce broke on July 13: Iran struck two UAE tankers in Omani waters with cruise missiles, killing an Indian crew member, and the US resumed strikes on Iran and reimposed its naval blockade.

Updated Aug 20

As of August 2026: Ordered termination of most DoD collective bargaining agreements in April 2026

Donald Trump's March 2025 order stripping collective bargaining rights from most of the federal workforce has survived its biggest court test. In June 2026, the Ninth Circuit closed off any further appeal in the union's lead case, clearing the way for agencies to keep canceling contracts nationwide.

Updated Aug 8

As of June 2026: Launched six-month review of US forces in Europe; promoting 'NATO 3.0' restructuring concept

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew to Brussels on June 18 and told NATO defense ministers the Pentagon will spend six months reviewing all American forces in Europe. Future US presence will depend on how fast European allies take primary responsibility for their own defense. He threatened to make US dues contributions to NATO 'contingent' on allies meeting spending targets and called it 'shameful' that some allies blocked American base access during the Iran war.

Updated Jun 18

As of May 2026: Approved Army-Navy laser consolidation

The U.S. military spent four decades chasing a laser that could shoot down a cruise missile. On April 28, 2026, the Pentagon detailed its latest attempt: the Joint Laser Weapon System, a containerized 150-kilowatt beam (scalable toward 500 kilowatts) that the Army and Navy will share, mounting it on trucks, ships, or anywhere a 20-foot container can sit.

Updated May 31

As of May 2026: Leading the Pentagon's AUKUS implementation under President Donald Trump

The Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) pact, unveiled in September 2021, promised nuclear-powered submarines not arriving in Australia until at least 2032. Five years on, the partnership has finally produced a piece of joint hardware, and it is not a submarine.

Updated May 31

As of May 2026: Refusing to reaffirm US commitment to NATO collective defense

Mark Rutte, NATO's secretary general, negotiated with President Trump at the White House on April 8, 2026, one week after Trump called NATO a 'paper tiger' and said withdrawal was 'beyond reconsideration.' The day before, a US-Iran ceasefire brokered by Pakistan had prompted several NATO members to refuse airspace and base access for American strikes. Rutte secured Trump's agreement to stay by extracting commitments: allies would accelerate defense spending and pledge military support for future US operations.

Updated May 31

As of May 2026: Leading Pentagon briefings on Iran campaign

Iran's nuclear infrastructure has become the primary target of an intensifying US-Israeli air campaign that began February 28 and has now entered its sixth week. The Natanz uranium enrichment complex has been struck four times. On April 4, 2026, US and Israeli forces expanded the campaign to strike the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Mahshahr petrochemical hub in southwestern Iran. The strikes killed at least one security guard and wounded five workers. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned that strikes on civilian nuclear power plants cross 'the reddest line' of nuclear safety, raising the risk of a radiological catastrophe. Meanwhile, Iran has demonstrated growing military capability: on April 4, Iranian air defenses downed two US warplanes, marking the first confirmed loss of American aircraft in the conflict.

Updated May 30

As of May 2026: Overseeing US military operations in the Iran war

For the fourth time since late February, a ballistic missile fired from Iran crossed into Turkish airspace before NATO defenses destroyed it. The March 31 interception over eastern Turkey followed previous shootdowns on March 4, 9, and 13 — a pattern spanning one month. Turkey summoned Iran's ambassador again, stating 'all necessary measures are being taken decisively' against threats to its territory.

Updated May 30

As of May 2026: Delivered the 2026 Shangri-La keynote on May 30

A year ago, the US defense secretary used the word Taiwan five times in his Shangri-La keynote. On Saturday in Singapore, Pete Hegseth did not say it once.

Updated May 30

As of May 2026: Overseeing military operations and coalition structure

The United States has not built a new military coalition in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. On March 7, President Trump gathered leaders from 12 Latin American nations in Miami to launch the 'Shield of the Americas,' a military-intelligence framework against drug cartels, and the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition—a 17-country pledge for lethal action against transnational criminal organizations.

Updated May 30

As of May 2026: Overseeing military operations; dismissed Article 5 speculation

For 23 days since February 28, 2026, the US and Israel have conducted bombing campaigns against Iran under Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion, prompting Iranian retaliation against US bases and NATO sites including French bases in Abu Dhabi, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, and a missile over Turkey. France authorized US support aircraft at Istres on March 5 with strict limits, but on March 16 European NATO allies rejected President Trump's demands for military assistance to reopen the Iranian-blocked Strait of Hormuz—Trump called the rejection a 'very foolish mistake' and declared the US needs no one's help.

Updated May 30

As of May 2026: Overseeing Pentagon AI procurement and Anthropic phaseout

For decades, the United States military chose its weapons contractors and they complied, but artificial intelligence changed that. On March 3, OpenAI and the Pentagon amended a freshly signed AI contract to ban domestic surveillance of Americans—a concession the Pentagon had refused Anthropic, triggering the company's blacklist from all federal agencies.

Updated May 30

As of May 2026: Named to lead the file identification effort

For nearly eight decades, the United States government has investigated reports of unidentified objects in its airspace while keeping most of its findings classified. On February 19, 2026, Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and federal agency heads to identify and release government files on UAPs, UFOs, and extraterrestrial life — the broadest UFO transparency directive ever issued.

Updated May 29

As of May 2026: Leading Pentagon drone transformation

The Pentagon spent $398 million on small drones in 2022. Four years later, as Ukraine demonstrated that $400 drones could destroy $10 million tanks, Congress authorized $1.7 billion—a fourfold increase. Now the Department of Defense has launched its most ambitious small-drone initiative ever: a $1.1 billion program to field more than 300,000 one-way attack drones by 2028, with the first 30,000 expected by mid-2026.

Updated May 26

As of May 2026: Overseeing acquisition system transformation

For three decades, the Pentagon told defense contractors to consolidate. Now it's paying $1 billion to help one spin off, taking an equity stake in L3Harris's solid rocket motor business in January 2026 — the first time it has directly invested in a defense supplier. Congress passed an $838.7 billion FY2026 defense budget with $2.9 billion for munitions and industrial capacity expansion, while Raytheon announced five framework agreements to triple Tomahawk production and double AMRAAM output.

Updated May 22

As of May 2026: Author of the May 13 memo halting the brigade

On May 13, the Pentagon quietly halted a 4,000-soldier armored brigade already moving toward Poland. Nine days later, President Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States would send 5,000 additional troops to the same country.

Updated May 22

As of May 2026: Implementing Trump's defense buildup and contractor restrictions

Trump wants to spend $1.5 trillion on defense in 2027—a jaw-dropping 66% jump from this year's $901 billion. This would be the largest single-year defense increase since the Korean War.

Updated May 19

As of May 2026: Confirmed 51-50 on January 24, 2025 (VP Vance broke tie)

Trump's second-term cabinet confirmations became the most contentious in modern history. The Senate confirmed all 22 nominees, but only after contentious battles.

Updated May 19

As of May 2026: Overseeing force expansion and technology initiatives; facing legal challenges over treatment of retired officers

On January 1, 2026, every U.S. service member got a 3.8% pay raise, bringing an E-1's monthly check to $2,407. It's the third consecutive above-inflation increase Congress has delivered, part of a scramble to fix a system where junior troops qualified for food stamps.

Updated May 19

As of May 2026: Under congressional investigation for alleged 'kill all' order on September 2 strike

Trump confirmed the first known U.S. land attack inside Venezuela on December 30—a drone strike on a coastal dock allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua gang, with no one present when missiles hit. The same day, a U.S. strike on a boat in the Pacific killed two more people, bringing total deaths to at least 107 since September.

Updated May 18

As of May 2026: Directed Department of War to prepare action in Nigeria

On Christmas night 2025, American warplanes struck ISIS-linked camps in northwest Nigeria, killing militants in the first direct U.S. combat action there. President Tinubu approved the operation after months of Trump pressure, targeting Lakurawa/ISSP elements in Sokoto State, but Jabo residents reported civilian panic from a missile hitting farmland. By mid-February 2026, U.S. Africa Command deployed around 200 military personnel, with the initial 100 troops arriving February 17 at Bauchi Airfield to train and support Nigerian counterterrorism forces.

Updated May 16

As of May 2026: Authorized federalization of Illinois and Texas National Guard units

The Supreme Court told President Trump he can't send National Guard troops to Illinois. The 6-3 decision on December 23 marks the first time the modern court has blocked a president from federalizing state Guard units over a governor's objections. Trump claimed protests at an ICE facility in suburban Chicago constituted a rebellion, and the court wasn't buying it.

Updated May 16

As of May 2026: Ordered Operation Hawkeye Strike in retaliation for Palmyra attack

A lone ISIS gunman killed two Iowa National Guardsmen and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra, Syria, on December 13, 2025—the first American combat deaths since Bashar al-Assad fled the country a year earlier. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded with Operation Hawkeye Strike.

Updated May 16

As of May 2026: Co-announced Golden Fleet initiative

Trump just announced the United States will build battleships again. The USS Defiant (BBG-1)—lead ship of the Trump-class—will be the largest American surface combatant since World War II at 35,000 tons, armed with nuclear cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons, rail guns, and lasers. Construction starts in 2030, and the Navy wants 20 to 25 ships at over $10 billion each.

Updated May 16

As of May 2026: Leading Operation Hawkeye Strike

On December 13, 2025, a Syrian security officer allegedly affiliated with ISIS opened fire on US troops near Palmyra, killing two Iowa National Guard members (Staff Sgts. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and William Nathaniel Howard) and interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat. The US responded six days later with Operation Hawkeye Strike: 100 precision munitions against 70 ISIS targets in central Syria via fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery, plus Jordanian F-16s, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called 'a declaration of vengeance.'

Updated May 16

As of May 2026: Public face of the retaliation message; frames strikes as vengeance, not escalation.

In the first post-strike readout of

Updated May 15

As of May 2026: Linked to command-and-control tightening as SOUTHCOM leadership turned over amid reported dissatisfaction with responsiveness during the Venezuela-linked escalation.

Trump's Venezuela "blockade" threat is now backed by policy. Washington has added new Venezuela-linked sanctions and also targeted Iran's shadow-fleet network. Together, these expand the pool of already-sanctioned vessels that the U.S. Navy could board if they try to trade with Venezuela.

Updated May 15

As of May 2026: Implementing and defending military-led border enforcement

Donald Trump has quietly turned long stretches of the southern border into de facto military bases. Under a new system of National Defense Areas, soldiers can stop migrants, hold them, and help prosecutors charge them as trespassers on military land.

Updated May 11

As of May 2026: Refuses to release boat‑strike video publicly despite bipartisan pressure; faces potential travel‑budget restrictions under new NDAA.

President Trump signed a nearly $901 billion defense bill into law on December 18, 2025, cementing the 65th consecutive year Congress has passed a National Defense Authorization Act. It delivers troops a 3.8% pay raise and locks in $800 million for Ukraine weapons over two years.

Updated May 10

As of May 2026: Facing heightened congressional oversight tied to NDAA conditions; said the Pentagon would not publicly release a top-secret unedited strike video while continuing briefings to lawmakers.

Congress passed the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act in December 2025, authorizing a record $901 billion in national security spending. The House approved the final compromise 312–112 on December 10, and Trump signed it December 18 without an Oval Office ceremony.

Updated May 10

As of May 2026: Overseeing U.S. military contingency planning for possible action in Nigeria

Since March 2025, jihadist attacks, mass kidnappings, and farmer-herder violence have swept across northern and central Nigeria. A February 4, 2026, jihadist massacre in Kwara State alone killed over 160 people. Major incidents include a US-Nigeria airstrike on December 25, 2025, targeting Islamic State militants; Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks killing dozens of soldiers in January 2026; and partial rescues amid ongoing banditry.

Updated May 10

As of May 2026: Chief executor and defender of militarized hemispheric and anti‑cartel operations

On December 5, 2025, the Trump administration released a 33-page National Security Strategy declaring a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The document formally revives the 19th-century idea of the Western Hemisphere as a U.S. sphere of influence and promises to reassert American preeminence across the Americas.

Updated May 10