Secretary of War Pete Hegseth maintains President Donald Trump’s support but faces a tidal wave of opposition following the midterm elections, which could threaten his job security. Trump said the secretary is “doing a very good job” in his first public comments following the “bluenami”
Page F134From§Eachthe afternoon edition — 4 November 2026
Hegseth's wife monetizes the job he may lose over the war, in full compliance with all ethics laws
Compliance is not innocence. It is a statement that the arrangement demanded nothing, and do note that nobody disputes it. "Secretary Hegseth and his wife are in full compliance with all ethics laws" — and the Daily Caller files that under a "Lucrative Swamp Bonanza," which is a handsome phrase for an office whose emolument reaches the household and not the man. You are thinking he will be sacked. Perhaps. "Knives are definitely out for him," sources told the Post. A White House official blamed the Iran war for the midterm losses and suggested the President may hold him accountable during the lame duck session. Accountable ... in the lame duck. On Wednesday the President said the secretary is "doing a very good job." And what does a drubbing buy? One job, possibly, in a session held after the voting. The title has paid out. Whoever holds it next inherits the paperwork.
Midstream the boatman holds out his hand. A man counts his coins twice.
“They're telling you the Iran war cost them the House, and the whole fix on the table is maybe firing one guy — in the lame duck, after your vote can't reach anybody. Same week, the family's getting in on the swamp bonanza and the line they give you is "full compliance with all ethics laws," which tells you the laws are the product, not the fence. The man running the war is still running it, and he's "doing a very good job."”
“Full compliance. Full. You're asking me about a spouse's outside income like it's a scandal — is that a scandal? And nobody here is blaming the war, a White House official blamed the war, that's not me, and the President said he's doing a very good job. Did I say that? That doesn't sound like me.”
The receipts
“Secretary Hegseth and his wife are in full compliance with all ethics laws”
The Pentagon has failed its audit eight years running - the only major federal agency never to pass one Military Times, 19 December 2025
Hegseth's future draws ominous predictions from insiders after GOP losses, but Trump isn't budging yetA White House official blamed the Iran war for midterm losses and suggested Trump may hold Pete Hegseth accountable during the lame duck session.
The Pentagon has failed its audit eight years running — the only major federal agency never to pass one Military Times, 19 December 2025
Trump weighs making Pete Hegseth the fall guy for Republicans’ crushing Midterm loss: ‘Knives are definitely out for him’Many sources told The Post that Hegseth would be an obvious near-term option for removal after the drubbing.
· Trump, Congress set to clash over Hegseth, Iran war, Ukraine after election from the morgue, 28 Oct 2026
· Trump warns Democrats against impeaching Pete Hegseth if they win the House from the morgue, 29 Oct 2026
· Trump stopped Hegseth’s execution livestream. Now he should reconsider Hegseth from the morgue, 21 Oct 2026
· Pete Hegseth Faces Growing Criticism as War With Iran Rolls On from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.