Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force general and key swing-district lawmaker, reaffirmed his call for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign or be fired. During an interview with NBC’s Ryan Nobles on Meet the Press NOW, Bacon cited repeated failures in leadership, including the recent Ukraine weapons delay and the earlier “Signalgate” controversy, as justification for his stance.
Bacon, who recently announced he will not seek re-election, has typically supported President Donald Trump’s legislative goals. However, he has grown increasingly critical of the administration’s management, particularly within the Department of Defense.
The congressman had previously demanded Hegseth’s removal following Signalgate, a scandal in which highly sensitive U.S. military attack plans were leaked via Signal group chats that included Hegseth’s family and a journalist from The Atlantic. The breach drew sharp criticism from lawmakers and national security experts.
Now, a fresh controversy has reignited Bacon’s criticism. Reports allege that Hegseth unilaterally ordered a temporary halt to U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine, without notifying President Trump or obtaining prior approval. Although the pause was later reversed, the move caused significant embarrassment for the administration and raised concerns about internal coordination and national security decision-making.
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was responsible for pausing weapon shipments to Ukraine, which pause was later overturned,” said Nobles during the interview. “You told my colleague Scott Wong that whoever ordered the weapons pause should be fired. Do you think Secretary Hegseth should be fired as a result of this?”
“You know, I’ve said this before about Signalgate,” Bacon responded. “It wasn’t handled well. The secretary should have taken responsibility, admitted he made a mistake, but instead he doubled down, blamed the journalists, and then denied there was a problem with putting sensitive data on an unclassified system for attack. And I called for his resignation or being fired then, and I feel the same way now.”
Bacon was especially critical of the Ukraine episode, saying it undermined both the White House and congressional authority. “When he makes the decision to not send weapons to Ukraine that was appropriated by Congress, signed by the previous president, and he didn’t even notify President Trump or seek his approval and it embarrassed the president, he had to address this on a world stage why these weapons were shut off, and he didn’t know!” Bacon said.
“And so yes, the Secretary of Defense should show better judgment here.” The controversy adds to growing scrutiny over Hegseth’s leadership and raises new questions about internal discipline and accountability within the Department of Defense.