The White House is steadfast in its support for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth amid media reports regarding his imminent ouster. 

Hegseth has attracted scrutiny once more in recent weeks after the New York Times reported Sunday that he disclosed details about a March military airstrike in Yemen against the Houthis in a Signal messaging app group chat that included his wife, brother and lawyer – about a dozen people in total – on a personal phone before his confirmation. Hegseth maintains that no classified information was disclosed over Signal. 

The incident follows a similar episode in March, where the Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was included on a Signal group chat with other high-ranking Trump administration officials, including Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, discussing the same attack on the Houthis. National security advisor Mike Waltz later took «full responsibility» for that chat blunder. 

But the White House says it supports Hegseth, and argued he’s faced a «smear campaign» since Trump tapped him for the post in December 2024. 

DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH REBUFFS NEW GROUP CHAT ALLEGATIONS AS ATTEMPT TO ‘SABOTAGE’ TRUMP’S AGENDA 

«The secretary of defense is doing a tremendous job, and he is bringing monumental change to the Pentagon, and there’s a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that’s why we’ve seen a smear campaign against the secretary of defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate,» White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. 

«Let me reiterate: the president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth and the change that he is bringing to the Pentagon, and the results that he’s achieved thus far speak for themselves,» Leavitt said. 

Hegseth has received backlash ever since Trump announced his nomination to lead the Pentagon, especially after allegations of sexual assault and alcohol misuse surfaced. In response, Hegseth told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that he is not a «perfect person,» but asserted that he was the subject of a «coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media.» 

Ultimately, no Democrats voted to confirm Hegseth. In contrast, only one Democrat voted against Trump’s first secretary of defense in 2016, retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis. 

Hegseth has spearheaded multiple reforms, including a series of efforts to curb diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the Pentagon that he says are in accordance with executive orders from the Trump administration. 

NPR reported Monday that the White House was eyeing a new secretary of defense, but Leavitt shut down the report immediately, labeling the report «fake news.» The NPR story was based on one anonymous U.S. official not authorized to speak to the media. 

Meanwhile, Hegseth has maintained that the second Signal chat, like his first, did not include «war plans,» and that all discussions conducted over Signal were unclassified. Included in the group chat were Hegseth’s brother, Phil, who works at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior advisor, according to the Associated Press. The defense secretary’s longtime personal attorney, Tim Parlatore, who was commissioned as a Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps commander right before the Signal chat, was also included, according to the Times report. 

«I said repeatedly, nobody is texting war plans,» Hegseth told Fox News Tuesday. «I look at war plans every day. What was shared over Signal then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things. That’s what I’ve said from the beginning.»

Meanwhile, even some in Hegseth’s orbit predict that he will not remain in his post for much longer. 

John Ullyot, a former senior communications official for the Pentagon who resigned in April under Hegseth, wrote that the abrupt Friday firings of three of Hegseth’s «most loyal» advisors – his aide Dan Caldwell, his deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary, Colin Carroll – were alarming and «baffling.» 

«The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership,» Ullyot wrote in a Sunday op-ed for Politico. 

«Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account,» he wrote. «Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.»

Caldwell and Selnick were included in the second Hegseth group chat, according to the Times. 

HEGSETH SHARED DETAILS OF YEMEN STRIKES IN SECOND SIGNAL CHAT: REPORT

Sen. Jack Reed is calling for an investigation into Hegseth’s use of Signal. (Reuters)

Senate Democrats are also clamoring for Hegseth to resign. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member, asked the Pentagon’s inspector general to conduct a report into Hegseth’s use of the Signal chat. 

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«Since he was nominated, I have warned that Mr. Hegseth lacks the experience, competence, and character to run the Department of Defense,» Reed said in a Sunday statement. «In light of the ongoing chaos, dysfunction, and mass firings under Mr. Hegseth’s leadership, it seems that those objections were well-founded.» 

«Accountability starts at the top, and I have grave concerns about Secretary Hegseth’s ability to maintain the trust and confidence of U.S. service members,» he stated. 

El papa Francisco, sentado, preside el funeral del papa emérito Benedicto XVI en la plaza de San Pedro del Vaticano el 5 de enero de 2023. El momento del funeral del Papa Francisco, que durará varios días, aún no se ha anunciado. (James Hill/The New York Times)

Trayectoria

El Papa Francisco celebrando el Viernes Santo en una Plaza de San Pedro vacía durante la pandemia de 2020. Foto Nadia Shira Cohen para The New York Times

Un altar en honor de Francisco en la puerta de Santa Maria Maggiore el martes. Foto Gianni Cipriano para The New York Times

Asistentes

The Department of Homeland Security in May will begin implementing REAL ID requirements for U.S. travelers for the first time, a move that comes as the administration looks to act on some of President Donald Trump’s top policy priorities, including its crackdown on illegal immigration and border security.

The enhanced ID requirements are slated to take effect May 7 and will apply to all U.S. travelers over the age of 18. 

The law establishing REAL IDs isn’t new: Congress first passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 in an effort to crack down on identity verification in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and set «minimum security standards» for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. 

But after 20 years of slow-walking the law’s enforcement, the abrupt timing of the May 7 enforcement is likely to catch many Americans flat-footed.

Just how necessary is obtaining a «REAL ID»? We broke down the changes coming next month and what’s at stake for those who don’t comply. Here’s what you need to know in the final weeks before the new rules take force.

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ORAL ARGUMENTS IN BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE

REAL ID requirements are going into effect nationwide soon. (Getty)

What is a REAL ID and how can I get one?

Beginning May 7, all federal agencies, including DHS and TSA, are required to accept only state-issued driver’s licenses and state identification cards that comply with the updated identity verification standards.

The goal of the REAL ID Act is «to make state driver’s licenses and ID cards (which are identification cards that states issue to non-drivers) more secure, less susceptible to fraud, and more reliable as a form of identification,» Magdalena Krajewska, an associate political science professor, wrote in a 2020 article for the Oxford Academic. (The government has for years tried to stand up the REAL ID requirements, most recently in the months before the COVID-19 pandemic.)

The law seeks to add another layer of security to various forms of identification and to make it harder to counterfeit state IDs.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS HALT TO TRUMP ADMIN’S CFPB TERMINATIONS 

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday said two people within DHS have been identified as those disclosing information on operations that have plagued law enforcement amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. (Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

What do I bring to the DMV?

The short answer: It depends. In order to obtain this enhanced form of ID, individuals must present to their local DMV valid proof of identity; proof of their Social Security number and date of birth, and two additional documents that prove they live in the state. This varies from state to state, though updated guidance can be found here.

The good news is that individuals can obtain one of the enhanced IDs at any time. All 50 states, D.C., and five U.S. territories are now issuing REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards, according to the DHS. 

The REAL ID requirements are a «coordinated effort by the federal government to improve the reliability and accuracy of driver’s licenses and identification cards for individuals across the federal government,» Bart Johnson, TSA’s federal security director for upstate New York, told reporters this month. 

REAL ID and TSA lines (Reuters/DC DMV)

Who needs to have one? 

Every adult in the U.S., if they want to travel by plane or enter government facilities.

«Every air traveler 18 years of age and older must have a REAL ID-compliant ID, which is a state-issued driver’s license, state-issued identification card, or another acceptable form of ID, such as a U.S. passport» before the May 7 deadline, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.

Though the other IDs are not rendered obsolete, the TSA said Americans will need to present these new IDs every time they board a commercial flight, even when traveling on a domestic trip. They will also need this updated ID to access federal facilities or be granted access to federal buildings.

Does everyone need to update their ID?

No, not everyone needs to get a new ID. In fact, certain states have required REAL ID verification from residents for years, meaning individuals living in those states and with active forms of identification need not hustle to the local DMV.

Enhanced and «REAL ID-compliant» identification cards are marked with a seal, often a star in the top right-hand corner, according to DHS. 

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What happens to individuals without a REAL ID?

The abrupt enforcement timeline could catch many Americans flat-footed, especially ahead of what is predicted to be a busy summer travel season.

While legacy IDs are still valid for travel, including driving, airline passengers who present noncompliant forms of ID before boarding, and without another acceptable alternative, such as a passport, «can expect to face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint,» DHS officials said.