As Pentagon descends into chaos, Hegseth mulls governor run

Pete Hegseth is reportedly mulling running for Tennessee governor amid continued strife at the Pentagon.

The US defence secretary has privately discussed running for office in the state with two individuals, sources told NBC News, one of whom said their conversation took place in the last few weeks.

Mr Hegseth is under pressure over a watchdog report expected to be released within weeks into the “Signalgate” fiasco, in which he accidentally leaked US military plans to a journalist.

One individual said they spoke to the defence secretary, who is from Minnesota but lives in Tennessee, about the eligibility requirements of running for governor in the state, where the Republican Party is traditionally dominant.

Mr Hegseth would face difficulties because he has only lived in Tennessee for three years rather than the required seven, and would likely face challenges from other Republicans.

A second source told NBC they spoke to Mr Hegseth about the realities of winning a campaign.

The Pentagon has pushed back on the story, insisting Mr Hegseth was focused “solely on serving under” President Donald Trump.

If Mr Hegseth ended up running for office in Tennessee, where the governor’s race will take place next year, he would be forced to resign from the cabinet because the Pentagon bars civilian employees from seeking government office.

The former Fox News host ran for a Minnesota Senate seat in 2012, but dropped out after failing to secure the Republican nomination.

Mr Hegseth was embarrassed this year when it emerged he had inadvertently leaked US military plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen to Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in–chief of The Atlantic, via the messaging app Signal.

The Pentagon is undertaking an independent internal review of the scandal, which is expected to be released within weeks.

Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said in a memo to the department’s inspector general that its report was “clearly a political witch hunt”.

“This entire exercise is a sham, conducted in bad faith and with extreme bias,” he claimed.

Hegseth overruled on polygraph test

Earlier this month, Mr Hegseth was reportedly overruled by the White House after ordering officials to submit to polygraph tests in an attempt to root out leakers.

Patrick Weaver, an adviser to Mr Hegseth, was angered by the demand and complained to senior figures in the administration, The Washington Post reported.

The White House is said to have told the defence secretary to stop the tests, via a phone call from an individual close to the administration.

The Pentagon declined to comment on what it called an “ongoing investigation” and decried the newspaper’s focus on “months old workplace gossip”.

It marked the second time Mr Trump had overruled his defence secretary, after the president halted his Mr Hegseth’s order stopping vital military aid being sent to Ukraine, a decision Mr Hegseth reportedly made without informing the White House.

‘Hegseth has no trusted advisers’

Sources suggested to CNN that the root of the debacle was that Mr Hegseth, who has never previously held a government job, had no chief of staff or trusted advisers around him to guide him on coordinating major policy decisions.

He is reportedly relying heavily on his wife, Jennifer, to help him with decisions.

Three senior aides were sacked in April during a leak investigation, subsequently claiming they had been smeared by “baseless attacks” from officials.

Days later, John Ullyot, a press assistant, said he had been asked to resign and characterised the department as in “full-blown meltdown”, saying it was hard to see Mr Hegseth remaining in position after repeated scandals.

Mr Parnell said in the statement: “Fake news NBC is so desperate for attention, they are shopping around a made up story… again.

“Only two options exist: either the ‘sources’ are imaginary or these reporters are getting punked. Secretary Hegseth’s focus remains solely on serving under President Trump and advancing the America First mission at the Department of Defence.”

Another individual told the news outlet they had spoken to Mr Hegseth about if he was considering leaving the cabinet, and he was “very, very clear” he would stay in position.