Jennifer Hegseth Has an Unprecedented Role in DC

Jennifer Hegseth isn't on the Pentagon's official org chart, but from a new report in the New York Times, it sounds like she's basically operating as husband Pete Hegseth's in-house consigliere. The paper details how the former Fox News producer has morphed from the defense secretary's right hand for TV appearances into an informal strategist, image shaper, and occasional presence in meetings that has made some officials uncomfortable. That includes her appearance in a Signal chat in which her spouse allegedly shared plans for US airstrikes on Yemen's Houthis, and her brief attendance at a sensitive session with top British defense officials about intelligence regarding Ukraine.

Jennifer Hegseth's expanded portfolio now includes chairing President Trump's Military Spouse Commission and helping drive an aggressive media strategy that has pushed critical outlets out of the Pentagon. Supporters inside the building call her a "force multiplier"; critics, including a former top DOD spokesman, describe her role in military decision-making as "bonkers" and far outside norms for a Pentagon spouse. "If there's ever been a defense secretary's spouse with a portfolio like this one, I'm not aware of it," political analyst Steve Benen writes for MS Now. For a closer look at how one unelected partner is reshaping life at the Defense Department, the full story here.