Bacon echoes Tillis: Hegseth ‘would not be on my team’

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) in a Wednesday interview backed up his colleague in the Senate, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), in pushing for the ouster of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“I agree with the sentiments of Sen. Tillis. I hate to tell the president who he should hire and fire. I don’t know if it’s really my role, but I would say this: I would not — he would not be on my team. I think he is — he has not been a very good leader in many ways,” Bacon said of Hegseth on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”

“So, I agree with the sentiments of Sen. Tillis, and I wouldn’t hire him myself. He would not be on my team,” he added.

Tillis called on President Trump to fire Hegseth over what the North Carolina Republican said was the Defense secretary’s “inept management” of the military.

Tillis ratcheted up his criticism of Hegseth’s leadership in the wake of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll announcing his resignation. Driscoll had butted heads with Hegseth on multiple occasions about the ouster of senior officials.

The North Carolina senator called Driscoll “the right man at the right moment to lead our Soldiers and Army civilians,” while also expressing ire toward Hegseth’s management of his department.

“I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force,” Tillis posted on the social platform X.

Key GOP lawmakers have expressed concern about the turnover of senior staff at the Pentagon as well as the lack of a clear plan from the administration to end the war in Iran and the failure of the Trump administration to connect with Democrats to create support for funding priorities.

During his leadership at the Pentagon, Hegseth has been a controversial figure, but increasing tensions between the secretary and top Republicans on Capitol Hill are set to come a head soon, as the administration presses for more than $70 billion in emergency national security spending to cover Iran war costs.

When reached for comment by The Hill, the Pentagon had no comment on Bacon’s remarks.