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As you\u2019ve probably heard by now, Pete Hegseth<\/strong>\u2019s time as defense secretary has not been going great. For starters, there was the matter of Signalgate<\/a>, wherein confidential war plans were texted to a journalist. Then there was Signalgate 2<\/a>, wherein the former Fox News host shared the same top secret information with a separate group chat that included his brother and wife. Staffers have been fired (and threatened with prosecution<\/a>) for alleged leaks, without any evidence<\/a> to back said accusations. Lie detectors have been rolled out, and then, on orders from the White House, rolled back in<\/a>.* At one point, Elon Musk<\/strong> was reportedly invited<\/a> to a meeting to hear about \u201csome of the nation\u2019s most closely guarded military secrets\u201d; at another, a GOP senator\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0Hegseth\u2019s leadership \u201camateurish.\u201d<\/p>\n So yeah, things have not been going swimmingly, and if you need more convincing of just how not-swimmingly they\u2019ve been going, another data point could be the fact that the defense secretary\u2019s own allies have taken to the media to describe what a shit show the last six months have been. \u201cIt\u2019s like the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of dysfunction,\u201d a person close to Hegseth told<\/a> Politico.<\/em> \u201cThere\u2019s going to be more shoes to drop all around,\u201d said another. Things have gotten so bad that \u201ca handful of Hegseth allies both inside and outside the Pentagon\u201d are said to be \u201cconcerned that the laundry list of scandals could lead to his downfall.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoping to convince him to see the light of day, said allies \u201chave engaged in something of an intervention with the secretary, according to the four people familiar with the discussions.\u201d Some urged him to \u201cmake peace with the former employees he ousted and accused of leaking.\u201d Others are said to be trying to get him to publicly apologize. \u201cIf there\u2019s any chance at Pete resetting and ensuring that whatever time he has left in this position is well served, he\u2019s got to do it\u2014otherwise Pete is just doubling down on the lie,\u201d a person close to Hegseth told the outlet. To be clear, one usually talks about someone making the best of the time they \u201chave left\u201c when they\u2019ve only been given a few months left to live, which doesn\u2019t bode great for Hegseth\u2019s job security.<\/p>\n Yet for all the embarrassing screwups, it\u2019s entirely possible that the former TV show host will outlast all his fellow cabinet secretaries because the president thinks he\u2019s good looking and macho. No, really: According to Politico,<\/em> Donald Trump<\/strong> has \u201clong admired the energy of the handsome, Princeton-educated Hegseth\u201d and appreciates his \u201c\u2018warrior ethos\u2019 masculinity.\u201d\u00a0Because of that, the outlet, reports, \u201cTrump doesn\u2019t give a fig about how Hegseth treats his staff, or whether there\u2019s an investigation into his use of Signal and classified documents, said one of the White House officials and three outside allies.\u201d<\/p>\n As one Trump ally put it to Politico:<\/em> \u201cThe boss loves him\u2014so it\u2019s like, \u2018We\u2019ll make it work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n *In a statement, a Pentagon spokesperson told<\/a><\/em> The Washington Post: \u201cThe Department will not comment on an ongoing investigation. The Fake News Media\u2019s obsession with months old workplace gossip is a reflection of the sad and pathetic state of \u2018journalism\u2019 in Washington.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n