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6 people who could be the NEXT Secretary of Defense 🪖

6 people who could be the NEXT Secretary of Defense 🪖

PLUS: Kristi Noem loves cash 💰

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Chris Cillizza
Apr 21, 2025
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6 people who could be the NEXT Secretary of Defense 🪖
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This nightly newsletter is for paid subscribers only. Why subscribe? Read my mission statement! You can become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 for the year. That gives you access to not just this newsletter but ALL of my content — including my latest rankings of the 2028 Democratic field!

1. Whither Pete?

(Pete Hegseth/ Getty Images/ Anna Moneymaker)

Donald Trump gave Pete Hegseth the dreaded vote of confidence on Monday.

As Politico reported on Monday afternoon:

President Trump spoke Sunday with embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and vowed to stick by him despite new revelations that he shared sensitive information about a military strike in another group chat.

Right……

And/but NPR reported this around the same time:

The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

This comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues to find himself mired in controversy. NPR has also confirmed with the same official that Hegseth shared details ahead of last month's Yemen strikes with his wife and brother in a Signal chat on his personal phone, minutes after being updated by a senior U.S. military official.

Sooooo…..

Look. I got out of the Donald-Trump-is-definitely-going-to-do-this-or-that game a while back. Because, well, the guy does a whole lot of things that any normal politician wouldn’t even think of doing. Like, say, nominating Pete Hegseth to run the Department of Defense.

But I will tell you that knowing Trump — and how quickly he loses patience with anyone getting bad press — Hegseth is on very thin ice. And it wouldn’t surprise me at all to wake up tomorrow morning and see that Trump has fired him.

Given that possibility, I thought I would do a bit of handicapping as to who might be the NEXT Secretary of Defense. My full list is below — and for paid subscribers only. But I’ll give you a hint:

If you aren’t a paid subscriber yet, join now to see the 6 people most likely to end up as Hegseth’s replacement — if Hegseth is ousted. If you join today, you’ll also get the latest on Kristi Noem and a huge wad of cash as well as my video breakdown of whether Trump can fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Get ALL of that for just $6 a month or $60 for the year!

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