Pete Hegseth
He ordered Nidal Hasan's December 3 firing-squad execution, what would be the first military execution since 1961, and is remaking the force around drones and robots while Democrats plot his post-midterm removal.
Pete Hegseth is running the Department of War through an Iran war that has split the administration, a firing-squad execution hanging on President Trump's decision, and a simultaneous drive to rebuild the military around drones and robots, all while Democrats lay plans to remove him.
Hasan is his loudest flashpoint. He ordered Nidal Hasan's December 3 execution by firing squad, what would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961, and announced aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that it would be livestreamed as a deterrent. Trump is now privately reconsidering the broadcast; Speaker Mike Johnson warned it could serve as a terrorist recruiting tool. Protesters calling him a war criminal repeatedly interrupted his Washington rollout of the new autonomous warfare command.
On Iran, he pushes to resume strikes on nuclear and military sites including Pickaxe Mountain, siding with Central Command against advisers who prefer sanctions and blockades, while Trump has ruled out an attack before the midterms. His department is withholding a report on a strike that hit a school in Minab until after the election.
The robot buildout is the through-line: AutoWarCom, a proposed four-star command for robotic warfare; a $1.1 billion program aiming to field 200,000 Army and Marine drones; counter-drone approvals cut from months to days; an order that major bases generate their own power. He is also expanding the counter-cartel war, sending 10th Mountain Division troops to Panama, Colombia and Honduras.
Democrats see him as a politically safer target than Trump and are preparing an impeachment push after November 3, with Hakeem Jeffries saying he should be fired.
On their plate
He ordered Nidal Hasan's December 3 firing-squad execution, what would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961, and announced aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that it will be livestreamed as a deterrent. Hasan, 56 and paralyzed, is wheelchair-dependent, drawing legal-ethical criticism. Trump is privately reconsidering the broadcast over martyrdom and optics concerns while the Pentagon reevaluates whether to cut the feed; Speaker Mike Johnson warned it could serve as a terrorist recruiting tool, part of condemnation that includes Pope Leo XIV.
He announced AutoWarCom, a proposed four-star combatant command set to activate October 1, 2027 pending congressional authorization, to scale robotic and autonomous warfare under Project Agincourt. He plans to fold Trump's $1.5 trillion defense budget request into a force centered on unmanned systems, with the $1.1 billion Drone Dominance program aiming to field 200,000 Army and Marine drones. His department awarded Amprius Technologies a $75 million grant for domestic drone batteries, cut counter-drone approval timelines from months to days after selecting four laser and microwave systems, and ordered every major installation to generate its own power off the civilian grid.
He is the leading administration voice for resuming military strikes on Iran's nuclear and military sites including the Pickaxe Mountain facility, siding with U.S. Central Command against advisers who prefer sanctions and blockades; Trump has ruled out an attack before the November midterms. He also warns Iran poses an electromagnetic pulse threat to the U.S. grid and advocates military action to destroy the nuclear program, though nuclear scientists call the EMP scenario unrealistic. His department is withholding an internal report on a U.S. strike on a school in Minab until after the midterm elections, amid months of political pressure over civilian casualties.
He is expanding the counter-cartel war in Latin America, creating a new Pentagon office to oversee the deployment of 10th Mountain Division troops to Panama, Colombia and Honduras, along with Reaper drones relocated from Africa. He has vowed to "maneuver with ruthless efficiency and speed" to destroy narco-terrorists.
Democrats view him as a politically safer target than Trump over his Iran war management and the Hasan livestream plan, and are preparing an impeachment or removal push after the midterms; Hakeem Jeffries says he should be fired, and some Democrats are open to backing Thomas Massie's ouster resolution alleging extrajudicial killings and war powers violations. His department says he has "slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation, and delivered for our warfighters every step of the way." Separately, 74 House Democrats led by Jason Crow, Sara Jacobs and Yassamin Ansari demanded answers on strikes that killed civilians in Kuhestak, Lamerd and a Navy base attack that destroyed an elementary school, and Democrats plan a probe of Pentagon contracts awarded under his leadership if they win Congress.
Key relationships
Hegseth's biggest calls sit with Trump: the president is privately reconsidering the Hasan execution broadcast over martyrdom and optics concerns and has ruled out attacking Iran before the November midterms. At Camp David, Trump directed the procurement overhaul aimed at rebuilding missile stocks that Hegseth manages through Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg.
Massie has filed an ouster resolution alleging extrajudicial killings and war powers violations, and some Democrats are open to backing it after the midterms.
The House Democratic leader says Hegseth should be fired, as Democrats prepare a post-midterms impeachment or removal push over his Iran war management and the Hasan livestream plan.
The acting Army secretary is building the Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command nested under Hegseth's AutoWarCom, integrating autonomous technology into aviation, armor and sustainment by fiscal 2028.
The House Speaker publicly warned that Hegseth's livestream plan could serve as a terrorist recruiting tool, joining condemnation that has left the broadcast hanging on Trump's decision.
Crow leads 74 House Democrats, with Representatives Sara Jacobs and Yassamin Ansari, who wrote Hegseth on October 8 demanding answers on U.S. strikes that killed civilians in Kuhestak, Lamerd and a Navy base attack that destroyed an elementary school.
The deputy secretary runs the sweeping procurement overhaul under Hegseth's management, on Trump's Camp David directive, with 300 retired executives hired, $300 million to Alvarez & Marsal and up to $244 million to Palantir's War Machine platform.
His press secretary dismissed as performative activists the protesters who repeatedly interrupted his AutoWarCom rollout calling him a war criminal and a Nazi.
