Gov. Hegseth? He’d Have To Leave Pentagon To Run So Let’s Hope Rumors Are True

Run Forest Pete Run!  In the last day or so I’ve picked up on their being speculation SecDef Pete Hegseth might run for elective office. If you’re wondering why we should care it’s this: Hegseth would have to resign from his current job because he can’t be SecDef AND run for elective office at the same time. So again I say ‘Run Pete, RUN!’

According to this article from The Independent, Pete Hegseth wants out of the Pentagon. I’ll get to what I think of the assessment Hegseth has had enough and wants to move on in a minute. What matters right now is this:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is considering stepping down from his Pentagon duties to pursue political office in his adopted home state, according to a new report.

Weeks before condemning the Pentagon’s internal Signalgate review as a “sham” on Tuesday, the defense secretary reportedly began discussing a potential 2026 gubernatorial run in Tennessee, sources told NBC News.

My first reaction was Tennessee can have him. And to hope public figures there encourage him.  If it gets him out of his current job then the sooner he formally becomes a candidate the better.  Regulations prohibit him from being SecDef and running for office at the same time. Not that THIS administration cares about regulations or as we increasingly see actual laws but I’m one of those who think Trump wants an “out” with Hegeseth.  The dude might have ‘looked’ like a SecDef out of central casting to Trump but he’s cost Trump far more than he’s been worth. Anyone Trump picked would have been a RWNJ loyalist who would do the things Trump wanted. And probably in a less attention grabbing way.

The linked article includes a statement from the Pentagon that Hegseth isn’t going anywhere.  Sure Pete.  I do believe he likes the idea of getting elected to political office however. The problem is he wants to be a candidate and SecDef at the same time and that’s where the trouble begins.  Still, there are credible reports that in the past Hegseth has considered elected Office. On this one the linked article says there are reports Hegseth isn’t going anywhere, while others say in the past few weeks he’s been engaged in serious discussions about the Tennessee Governor’s race.  The job will be open as the current Gov. is term-limited.

The headline of the linked article startled me because I find it hard to believe Petey wants out of the most powerful job he’ll ever have. Yes, he’s catching hell right and left and has to know morale is lower than that of a recruit getting their first dose of boot camp and thinking ‘what the hell possessed me to volunteer for this?”  He’s paranoid, firing people right and left and likely recalls those few years he was on active duty. He can FEEL the lack of respect, even contempt for him as he tries to strut about the Pentagon. As the Gov. of a ruby red state that’s already aligned with his views he’d have people sucking up to him so yes, there’s considerable appeal.

However, a small state (Tennessee doesn’t have all that many electoral votes) and that state isn’t a major economic force.  Nashville and its music scene carries a lot of weight but it’s not hard core conservative. Rather it’s mixed to a surprising degree.  There’s not much else that has national significance so Hegseth would be a big fish in a small pond. Cool, and with a lot of power but NOTHING like he currently has and therein lies the problem.

Power can be and often is the most powerful “drug” people experience. He might have made more money as a Fox News pundit but as a run of the mill former platoon commander suddenly becoming the person in charge of the entire freaking DOD is one hell of a power trip. Especially for someone in no way qualified either by a single stint in the Army or anything since to hold such power.

Hegseth had two qualifications that mattered to Trump. First, he was as I said in no way qualified for one of the top positions in government. For Trump that meant Hegseth could easily be manipulated and if need be pushed around.  Second, Trump thought Hegseth ‘looked good on TV’ and perhaps to Fox viewers he did. To me, looking at him then (and now for that matter) he looked like a still young-ish guy prematurely aging. (Serious alcohol abuse and partying will do that to a person) The studio makeup is something all pundits of any stripe get to make them look their best. With Hegseth his carefully tailored outfits and the hair gel is what I keep noticing.

My own service was decades, hell a lifetime ago. Pete Hegseth’s insistence on “Warrior” mentality as well as projecting a “lethal” image to adversaries seems at odd with the example HE sets. The fancy suits and ties, the just right tan and makeup for the cameras and his hair so carefully styled with that freaking gel.  I think back roughly four decades and imagine my Drill Instructors and other superiors after that giving instruction on how to apply just the right amount of hair gel!  But I digress.

If Hegseth had any sense of honor or duty, or truly wanted to serve Trumpty he’d have resigned when Signal-Gate broke. By ‘falling on his sword’ he’d have semi made his boss look good. Also it would have allowed him to, after a bit of time away return to Fox who’d have loved him talking up the “unfairness” of how he was forced to resign.  Would we have wound up with a better, or at least minimally competent SecDef?  Who the hell knows? It’s hard to imagine someone worse and Trump might have felt enough heat to install a loyalist that at least had some actual legitimate credentials for the job.

I have little doubt Trump wants Hegseth gone but hasn’t fired him because hell, it’s only been months and firing someone from that level of job would mean admitting he (Trump) made a mistake.  Trump simply can’t bring himself to endure a short period of time being criticized for having to replace Hegseth.  He probably LOVES the idea of Petey moving on to other things and would endorse him for Gov. of a state like Tennessee in a heartbeat. However THIS is one of those times Trumpty would I think actually stick to the regulations – because it’s in HIS interest to do so.

Hegseth on the other hand knows he will never again hold the kind of power he currently has or hold a job of such prestige. He doesn’t want to give that up any more than DeSantis did when Florida law said he could be a Presidential candidate or a Gov. but not both. In those days DeSantis could always get his way so he got that law changed. He intended to remain Gov. at least through what he thought would be “his” nominating convention. Hegseth however is reliant on Trump ignoring/rewriting the rules to allow him to remain SecDef and run for Gov.  He’s being told no, in a “So sorry but this pesky regulation is there and there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

Hegseth knows that’s a load of horseshit.  He has after all helped Trump break the rules himself!  At the moment however Hegseth doesn’t want to leave his job yet if he’s going to mount a political campaign he needs to get cracking and soon. WITH Trump’s endorsement he’s in a good position. Without it it’s a fool’s errand.  It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Running for Gov. of Tennessee gives both Hegseth and Trump an “out” of the current mutual mess they are in.

But like I said power is addictive, sometimes to the point where pursuing or holding on to it becomes self-destructive. This is one of those times where some real brazenness from Trump is called for. He should have Wiles get Hegseth on the phone and keep him there to ensure he’s got his TV on as Trump walks into the WH Press Room and makes an announcement along these lines:

I’m pleased to announce my endorsement of Pete Hegseth to become the next Governor of Tennessee. I hate to lose him but he’s done amazing things at the Dept. of Defense and in a short time he transformed it into the kind of DOD our country needs. He will do the same for Tennessee and we wish him well.  We haven’t settled on the date his resignation will take effect, probably in the next couple of weeks. He has after all earned a nice send-off plus it will give me time to pick his replacement. So good luck Pete. The Pentagon’s loss is Tennessee’s gain.”

Trump can walk back to the Oval Office and tell Hegseth that resignation had better be on  his desk by the end of the day. And effective (as in Hegseth’s last day on the job) no more than a week away!  I don’t know if Trumpty still has the capacity to think this way but Wiles does and so do others Trump trusts and they know Hegseth is a liability.  Trump’s fat ass is floating in an ocean of problems (mostly of his own making) but there are anchors attached to him dragging him down. Hegseth is a big anchor and Trump needs to cut him loose.  He now has the means to do so. The only question is will Trump pull the trigger.

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