The search for a new secretary of defense is on, NPR reported on Monday, as controversy surrounding the current secretary, Pete Hegseth, continues to mount.

Hegseth is bleeding staff, with former aides going on record to say Hegseth’s leadership has led to “chaos” and “dysfunction” in the Pentagon.

And a new report in Sunday's New York Times revealed that Hegseth was sharing classified intelligence on future military attacks in a Signal chat with his wife, brother, and personal lawyer—who had neither the clearance nor the need to know about imminent military strikes. It’s the second known time Hegseth shared classified attack-planning information on an unsecured messaging app—the kind of behavior Hegseth himself has said should lead to prison time.

Publicly, President Donald Trump is sticking by Hegseth.

"Ask the Houthis how much dysfunction there is. There's none. Pete's doing a great job. Everybody's happy with him," Trump said at the White House Easter Egg Roll event, referring to the Iran-backed militant group that the military is still battling.

Trump also repeated the ridiculous White House talking point that an apparent deep state within the Pentagon is conspiring against the former Fox News host.

"It's just fake news. They just bring up stories. I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that's what he's doing. So you don't always have friends when you do that," Trump added.

But apparently, in the background, White House aides are starting the process of looking for Hegseth's replacement less than 100 days into his tenure.

Those who haven't blacked out the first four years Trump was in office may remember that it was a trend for him to claim he had confidence in one of his Cabinet officials immediately before firing them. For example, Trump said he had confidence in crackpot Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, only to fire him hours later.

Ultimately, polling shows voters want heads to roll over the Signal chats Hegseth was part of.

A Civiqs survey conducted for Daily Kos found that 51% of registered voters think those responsible for sharing classified information in a Signal chat should be fired.

Democrats were already calling for Hegseth to resign. But now some Republicans are joining that bandwagon, with Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska—one of the most vulnerable GOP House members in the 2026 midterm elections—saying on Monday that Hegseth should step down.

"He’s acting like he’s above the law—and that shows an amateur person," Bacon told Politico.

It’s unclear whom Trump would replace Hegseth with.

It should be hard to get someone worse than Hegseth—a racist, misogynistic, former Fox News host who was always unquestionably unqualified for the job.

However, never underestimate Trump’s ability to surround himself with the worst people.