New Facts: Hegseth Faces Increased Pentagon Scrutiny

Scrutiny of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharpened after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation. Fresh accounts described the Pentagon placing military influencers in civilian jobs and highlighted Hegseth’s removal of four officers from a promotion list, which drew bipartisan calls for limits. The Army is carrying a record number of leadership vacancies.

The pileup also includes seven consecutive failed audits and fraud confirmed in the billions. The Pentagon put the U.S. cost of the Iran war near $29 billion. Hegseth faced a second day of Democratic questioning over the war and the defense budget, while attention turned to his pick to replace Driscoll after he considered Sean Parnell, who has faced abuse allegations.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources