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Peter Hegseth and the Wolves

Pete Hegseth
Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA via AP

By Evan McMorris-Santoro and Helen Huiskes

April 22, 2025 06:00 AM

Today’s notice: Lotta knives out for Pete Hegseth, but also, does anyone care about that anymore? USTR has the heart for trade deals, but does it have the bandwidth? Dems advise each other to stop talking about Project 2025. A scoop about wind power research. A deep dive into HHS cuts.

Pete’s Dragons

The question for the Pentagon this week: Are we seeing a redux of nomination announcement Pete Hegseth or confirmation hearing Pete Hegseth?

When Donald Trump selected the Fox News personality to head the Department of Defense, the smart money said the laws of political physics were stronger than Trump’s desires. Defense contractors trashed Hegseth in the press, Republicans in the Senate expressed skepticism and a steady thrum of ugly scandals emerged with each passing day. Alternative names were floated. Hegseth was going to be another Matt Gaetz, a nominee that would prove that even in this D.C. moment, some things a president just cannot get away with.

It obviously did not play out that way. Trump backed Hegsteth and muscled him through a vote that ended up being historically partisan but not especially dramatic. This was to be the way of the second Trump administration: Our guys are our guys, no constant stream of firings like last time. This time, it’s a professional operation.

As NOTUS’ John T. Seward reports, Hegseth may be testing that vision of Trump 2.0. After a weekend full of all-new bad Signal-related headlines for the SecDef, John reports that Pentagon insiders “are expecting more details about Hegseth’s conduct in the past month to come out this week.” Trump personally backed his guy strongly, once again, on Monday. Karoline Leavitt batted down an NPR story about new candidates for Hegseth’s job. (Both the story and Leavitt’s dismissal of it could be equally true, more than one veteran of politics in the age of Trump told me yesterday.)

One Republican member of Congress, Rep. Don Bacon, called for the Pentagon chief to resign. But as much as Bacon would like to advise on Trump’s cabinet, he has no constitutional authority to consent. The Republican senators that did have either defended Hegseth this week or said nothing.

So, fair to say the dam has not yet broken. The old drip, drip, drip sound is certainly there. The resounding question is: Does that sound indicate anything anymore?

—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read John’s story.

Dealing It Out at USTR

As the Trump administration seeks to make a lot of trade deals very quickly, current and former U.S. trade officials told NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright they’re not sure the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has the bandwidth to pull it off. Many at the highly specialized, intentionally small agency are excited about the potential for getting a lot done, but the office historically has had a hard time handling more than “two or three” traditional deals at the same time.

“What happens when the Japanese and the Koreans and the Thais and the Vietnamese show up and they all want to negotiate?” one former USTR official who recently left the office told Jasmine. What does this all mean for Trump’s 90-day pause before tariffs set in? Expect extensions, formers say.

Read Jasmine’s story.

Front Page

NOTUS Scoop: The Maine Squeeze

The Trump administration may be ramping up its vengeance campaign against Maine by shutting down work on offshore wind power research in the state, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer reports. The Department of Energy has sent stop work orders to three University of Maine projects related to offshore wind. Two department officials speculated it was an escalation of the administration’s war against Gov. Janet Mills, who has refused to bar transgender girls from playing in girls’ sports. Though as Anna reports, it’s also very in line with Trump’s anti-wind agenda.

Read the story.

NOTUS Exclusive: GOP Vulnerability Polling

A new poll for Navigator Research, which aims to provide Democratic allies with research to help shape messaging, finds Elon Musk is dragging Trump down. “Nearly all Americans know about Musk,” NOTUS’ Alex Roarty reports in an exclusive look at the numbers. And what they know about Musk, they do not like: 56% said they have a negative view of him, with only 38% having a positive view. The numbers are about the same when it comes to how Musk’s involvement affects voters’ feelings about the administration: 53% said it makes them feel more negative toward Trump, while only 28% said it makes them feel more positive.

Navigator’s takeaway from these numbers is Democrats should talk a lot about Musk. And maybe say the phrase “Project 2025” a lot less, Alex writes — the survey found “nearly one-third of registered voters polled” still “aren’t sure what to think” about the much-hyped Heritage Foundation plan.

Read the story.

We’re All Trying to Find the Guy Who Cut This

DOGE has made more cuts to Health and Human Services programs than any other cabinet-level agency. Lawmakers, staffers and even its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are struggling to keep pace, NOTUS’ Mark Alfred and Margaret Manto report.

Read the story.

Not Us

We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.

Be Social

Smoke incoming.