Christopher Deluzio

A Western Pennsylvania congressman who sits on the House Armed Services Committee is calling for the firing of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, joins a growing number of lawmakers — including some Republicans — who have raised concerns about Hegseth.

“Pete Hegseth, who leads the Pentagon, who leads our military, has been a failure in that job,” Deluzio said in a phone interview with TribLive. “I think Pete Hegseth should have been fired a long time ago.”

Among reasons cited by Deluzio, a Naval Academy graduate who served as a Navy officer, the second-term congressman pointed to what he called the “personnel churn” of high-ranking military officials. At least 20 generals, admirals and civilian defense leaders have been fired or left their jobs since Hegseth became defense secretary less than a week into Trump’s second stint in the White House in January 2025, CBS News reported.

Deluzio also described the war in Iran as a “disaster,” in which more than a dozen troops have been killed and hundreds more wounded.

He said the war has cost taxpayers billions of dollars while raising the cost of gasoline and other products for consumers and depleting munitions supplies.

In a statement to TribLive on Thursday, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, “After Joe Biden’s Pentagon prioritized DEI and woke ideology, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth quickly reversed course and restored a Department of War that is focused on readiness, lethality, and supporting our warfighters.”

Kelly added: “The President has complete trust in Secretary Hegseth, who is doing an incredible job leading the Pentagon.”

In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump called journalists reporting on munition shortages as “treasonous SCUM” and said the United States has “virtually unlimited amounts of Mid to High Grade Ammunition, far more than we could ever use for this, or for any other War (which is highly unlikely!), that could improbably take place.”

Trump added that munitions were being produced “at levels never seen before” and sales to allies would “soon again begin.” He also said the Biden administration “gave far more Munitions away to Ukraine, at no cost to them, whatsoever, than we have used in Iran,” along with hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine and NATO.

Deluzio hasn’t been alone in his criticism of Hegseth this week.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina who sits on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and formerly served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, accused Hegseth in an X post Wednesday of “creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks.”

“I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force,” Tillis wrote. He is not seeking reelection this year.

“I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it,” he added.

In a CNN interview, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska who sits on the House Armed Services Committee and is a retired Air Force brigadier general, said, “I agree with the sentiments of Sen. Tillis.”

”I hate to tell the president who he should hire and fire,” added Bacon, who also is not seeking reelection this year. “I don’t know if it’s really my role, but I would say this: I would not — (Hegseth) would not be on my team. I think he is — he has not been a very good leader in many ways.”