It’s been quite an August for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Against a backdrop of policy failures in an ongoing war, the former Fox News host has taken steps to commandeer a 165-year-old newspaper, made unprecedented stops on the campaign trail in support of Republican congressional candidates, denied interest in a 2028 presidential race and even expanded his wife’s portfolio at the Pentagon in ways his former spokesperson characterized as “bonkers.”
This is the same month we also learned that Hegseth has left the U.S. Army “essentially rudderless,” in the words of The New York Times.
But as the month nears its end, the common thread tying together many of the hapless secretary’s troubles is his personnel problems.
The Washington Post reported over the weekend, for example, on a classified document (called the Secretary of Defense Orders Book, or SDOB) in which Hegseth endorsed a vision that would keep U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East, as part of the ongoing war with Iran, into 2027. This apparently generated unusual and formal pushback from several U.S. military leaders.
The article, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added, “Leaders of the U.S. European Command, the U.S. Pacific Command and the U.S. Southern Command, along with the Navy’s top admiral, responded with what is characterized in the SDOB as a ‘non-concur,’ those familiar with the assessment said — meaning they disagree with the secretary’s order to extend their forces but will execute it nevertheless.”
A Pentagon spokesperson disputed the story, while simultaneously condemning the leak of a classified document, which appears to have been disclosed by someone within the Defense Department opposed to Hegseth’s plan.
Meanwhile, the secretary’s role in blocking military promotions for the most dubious of reasons is becoming even more controversial. The Times reported:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is blocking the promotions of four Army officers selected for promotion to one-star rank, a highly unusual move that appears to be targeting officers who worked for generals he does not like, current and former defense officials said.
So far this year Mr. Hegseth has removed at least 45 officers, selected by boards made up of peers, from promotion lists. More than half of those officers have been female or Black.
The Times’ report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added that Hegseth’s actions “appear to violate the rules governing a promotion system that is meant to be apolitical and merit-based.”
The latest column from the Post’s Max Boot similarly made the compelling case that Hegseth’s role in blocking promotions for qualified officers for petty reasons has “created a dangerous leadership vacuum that is jeopardizing national security and military readiness. Critical posts in the armed forces are either not being filled or are being filled with officers seemingly appointed more for political than professional reasons.”
But there’s also fresh reason to be concerned about those Hegseth is bringing into the Pentagon, in addition to his treatment of those who were already in the building. The Post also reported:
The Pentagon has secretly installed several conservative military veterans with large online followings in government roles, declining to disclose their assignments as they amplify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s viewpoints and attack those who scrutinize the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter and corroborating material.
At least some of the influencers have been assigned to civilian roles that could lead to changes in policy, the people familiar with the matter said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
When the newspaper asked whether these influencers, some of whom have been assigned to the office of Anthony Tata, the highly controversial undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, are receiving taxpayer-funded paychecks, a Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment.
Daniel Drezner, a political scientist at Tufts University, made the case in his latest Substack newsletter that the war in Iran “has obscured the fact” that Hegseth is “running the Department of Defense right into the ground.”
The evidence to bolster the thesis was readily available before August began, but for the spectacularly unqualified secretary, it has been an unusually brutal month — both for him and for Americans who need him to stop failing so frequently.
The post Hegseth’s personnel policies at the Pentagon generate another avoidable scandal appeared first on MS NOW.
