Republicans silent on Hegseth fear 'questioning Trump and earning his wrath': analysis

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is now fighting for his job leading the U.S. military after the second scandal in which he allegedly mishandled classified information in as many months. And the Washington Post's Aaron Blake is exploring why Congressional Republicans seem hesitant to hold him accountable.

On Tuesday, Blake pointed out no Republican elected officials — save for Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) — have so far called for Hegseth to resign or be fired. This is despite the former part-time Fox News weekend host being accused of using his personal, unsecured device to share highly sensitive attack plans with his wife, Jennifer Rauchet and his attorney, Tim Parlatore. This came just a month after Hegseth shared separate attack plans on a group text thread that included a journalist who was mistakenly added by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

Blake noted that Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) — who would typically be the first to comment on a scandal involving the defense secretary — has only offered mild criticism for Hegseth in the wake of the first scandal, though has still not yet commented on the second texting scandal. And no other members of the House or Senate are calling for investigations or asking President Donald Trump to consider replacing him with someone else.

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"Their silence is particularly notable given that virtually all of these episodes play off one of Hegseth’s chief, known liabilities during his contentious nomination process: his lack of experience," Blake wrote. "Hegseth ran veterans advocacy groups, but his most recent job was being a Fox News weekend host. And the job of defense secretary is an immense one, involving overseeing millions of people and protecting the homeland."

Blake further observed that the three Senate Republicans who voted against Hegseth's confirmation — Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — primarily based their opposition on Hegseth's lack of experience managing organizations as large as the Department of Defense. Murkowski doubted that the national guardsman and TV news commentator was "prepared for such immense responsibility."

Trump continues to stand by Hegseth despite the latest scandal, and Blake offered that Republicans who may be otherwise calling for Hegseth's ouster likely don't want to put themselves in the awkward position of "questioning Trump and earning his wrath."

"And even when the stakes are national security — just like the economy — that’s apparently not a place Republicans are anxious to go," he wrote. "If anything demonstrates the exceedingly long leash Republicans are going to give Trump, that’s surely it."

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Click here to read Blake's full analysis in the Washington Post (subscription required).