A raft of top and mid-level Pentagon officials plans to call for the removal of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Since May, a group of Department of Defense (DOD) personnel, made up of officials from every branch save the Coast Guard, has quietly circulated drafts of a letter letting “the American public know this guy has no clue what he’s doing,” as one of those staff members put it to the Daily Mail Wednesday.
Three officials described the letter’s complaints about politicized managerial decisions, dysfunction across multiple divisions, poor morale among both military and civilian staff, and an atmosphere of paranoia fostered by Hegseth’s alleged drive to stamp out dissent and plug leaks in the department.
A group of officials from the Department of Defense is planning to release a letter calling for Secretary Pete Hegseth’s removal. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
An additional point of discontent has been Hegseth’s emphasis on optics, including his installation of a makeup studio at DOD headquarters and regular photo ops of himself working out with troops.
“He has branded himself the epitome of his so-called ‘warrior ethos’ that he’s always talking about,” one person put it to the Mail, adding they felt this had turned the Pentagon into “a cross between a sweat lodge and WWE.”
The Daily Mail’s sources have taken issue with what they described as Hegseth’s preoccupation with optics. Secretary of Defense/x.com
Others took issue with Hegseth’s reluctance to heed the advice of senior service members and civilian staff on operational matters, citing the decision to send roughly 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles during last month’s protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Nobody in the building thought that was a wise idea,” another staff member said.
The Mail’s sources also said that Hegseth’s efforts to do away with diversity, equity, and inclusion have proven unpopular, with “far more” racist incidents taking place as a result and non-white colleagues feeling as though they’re “being looked at as if they don’t deserve their positions.”
Other interviewees took issue with Hegseth’s pursuit of the Trump administration’s crusade against DEI initiatives within the military. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images
The officials, who have worked at the DOD for at least two decades, spoke with the newspaper on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, being prosecuted by the Trump administration, or being replaced by inexperienced colleagues less willing to challenge Hegseth’s leadership.
While the text of the letter has been finalized, its release may be delayed as its authors deliberate whether only a few of them should sign it and face the consequences alone, or if there is another way to include further signatures in a way that protects the identities of staff who choose to sign.
Those discussions have reportedly also featured input from PR advisers, a tech consultant, and community organizers on how best to publicize the letter.
In a statement shared with The Daily Beast, chief DOD spokesman Sean Parnell described the letter as little more than “palace intrigue” and “sensationalized mainstream media gossip” that most Americans would not “care about.”
“Secretary Hegseth has successfully reoriented the Department of Defense to put the interests of America’s Warfighters and America’s taxpayers first, and it has never been better positioned to execute on its mission than it is today,” he said. “The DoD’s historic accomplishments thus far are proof of Secretary Hegseth’s bold leadership and commitment to the American people and our men and women in uniform.”
The Daily Beast has also reached out to the defense secretary’s representatives for comment.