First House Republican calls for Pete Hegseth's ouster

• Several Pentagon officials who left amid allegations of leaking have in turn publicly criticized the Defense Department.
• The New York Times reported Thursday that Hegseth shared information on strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen to a Signal chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.

What he's saying: "The military should always pride itself on operational security. If the reports are true, the Secretary of Defense has failed at operational security, and that is unacceptable," Bacon told Axios.

• "If a Democrat did this we'd be demanding a scalp. I don't like hypocrisy. We should be Americans first when it comes to security," he added.
• Bacon is the chair of a House Armed Services subcommittee and one of just a handful of House Republicans in districts that Kamala Harris carried last year. He first made his comments to Politico.

The other side: President Trump suggested he is standing by Hegseth, telling reporters, "Pete's doing a great job. Everybody's happy about him."

• He said of reports about Hegseth's Signal use and allegations of dysfunction at the Pentagon: "It's just fake news, they just bring up stories. It sounds like disgruntled employees."
• Hegseth similarly dismissed the reporting, with the White House also pushing back on an NPR report that aides are eyeing replacements for him.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.