Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who voted to confirm Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, now says Hegseth "needs to go" and is backing a fellow Republican's effort to impeach him.
Tillis told reporters Thursday that he supports removing Hegseth from the Pentagon, whether through impeachment or a simpler path: President Trump replacing him directly. The outgoing senator's remarks came days after Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth in the House, citing the Defense Secretary's handling of the Iran war and an alleged violation of his oath to support and defend the Constitution.
The intra-party revolt is unusual. Two Republicans, one in the Senate, one in the House, are now publicly calling for the removal of a cabinet secretary appointed by a president from their own party. And Tillis is not hedging.
Asked whether Republicans should support Massie's impeachment articles, Tillis stopped short of directing House colleagues but made his own position unmistakable. The Hill reported his response to reporters:
"He needs to go, whether it's impeachment or the most expedient route, just the president to replace him, would be great."
He added: "I'll let the House do what the House is going to do. I think I'm pretty well staked out on my assessment of Mr. Hegseth."
Tillis is not seeking reelection in November, which frees him from the political cost that might silence other GOP senators. But his criticism has been building for months, not days. Earlier this year, he told Politico that Trump firing Hegseth was on "a Christmas wish list" and alleged that Hegseth had misled the president on the dynamics of the war in Iran.
That allegation, that the Defense Secretary gave the commander-in-chief a misleading picture of an active military conflict, is among the most serious charges a senator can level at a Pentagon chief. Tillis has not provided public evidence to support it, and Hegseth has not responded publicly to the claim, at least not in any statement captured in the reporting.
Massie introduced his impeachment resolution on Tuesday. The eight articles center on Hegseth's conduct regarding the Iran war and accuse him of violating his constitutional oath. The full text of the articles has not been reproduced in available reporting, and the specific factual allegations within each article remain unclear.
Massie has previously accused Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution over the Iran conflict, a charge that goes to the heart of whether the executive branch overstepped its authority in committing military force without proper congressional authorization.
The impeachment articles' current status in the House, whether they have been referred to committee, whether any other members have co-sponsored them, is not clear from available reporting. No other Republican senator has publicly endorsed or opposed the resolution.
Tillis escalated his rhetoric on the social platform X earlier this month, writing that he had "never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country." He followed that with a direct appeal to the president:
"I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it."
The senator's complaints center on personnel decisions. He has accused Hegseth of pushing out experienced military officials, a pattern that came to a head at the end of August when Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned. Driscoll had clashed with Hegseth over firings of the Army's senior leadership and other changes to the department.
Hegseth has faced a series of controversies during his tenure. He previously rejected reports that the White House was searching for a replacement for his deputy, pushing back on narratives about instability at the top of the Defense Department.
Driscoll's departure is the most concrete example of the internal friction Tillis describes. When a service secretary, the civilian head of an entire military branch, walks away over disagreements with the Defense Secretary about who should lead the force, it raises questions about whether the Pentagon's senior ranks are being managed or simply cleared out.
One fact adds weight to Tillis's criticism: he voted to confirm Hegseth in the first place. This is not a senator who opposed the nomination from the start. He gave Hegseth the benefit of the doubt, watched the results, and concluded the appointment was a mistake.
That trajectory matters. Critics who opposed a nominee before confirmation can be dismissed as partisan. A supporter who reverses course based on what he says he has observed in office is harder to wave away.
Meanwhile, the political environment around Hegseth has grown more hostile from multiple directions. The Pentagon reversed one of Hegseth's own policies regarding flu vaccines for recruits after an outbreak sickened hundreds at a training base, a reversal that undercut his authority on a decision he had personally championed.
Democrats have piled on with their own brand of opposition. One swing-district Democrat told a crowd she wanted to "beat the s*** out of" Hegseth, rhetoric that does nothing to advance serious oversight but illustrates the intensity of feeling on Capitol Hill.
Scrutiny has also extended to Hegseth's family. His wife Jennifer's reported hands-on role at the Pentagon drew fresh questions about influence and access at the highest levels of the Defense Department.
Neither Hegseth nor the White House has responded publicly to Tillis's latest remarks or to Massie's impeachment resolution, at least not in any statement captured in the reporting. That silence leaves a significant gap. A Defense Secretary facing impeachment articles from a member of his own party and a public demand for his firing from a Republican senator would normally create some form of rebuttal.
It also remains unclear how many other Republicans share Tillis's view but have kept quiet. The senator himself acknowledged the political dynamics at play, deferring to the House on impeachment while making his own stance unmistakable. Whether Massie's articles gain co-sponsors or die in committee will say more about the GOP's appetite for this fight than any single senator's remarks.
The deeper question is one Tillis has raised but not fully answered: What exactly did Hegseth tell the president about the Iran war, and was it accurate? If a Defense Secretary misled the commander-in-chief about an active conflict, that is not a management problem. It is a trust problem. And trust, once lost at that level, is not easily rebuilt.
When members of a president's own party start filing impeachment papers and calling for his cabinet secretary's head on the record, the problem is no longer about optics. It is about whether the person running the Pentagon still has the credibility to do the job.
