Jeffries: Democrats working to 'make sure' Hegseth, Patel 'are on their way out the door'

Source: Yahoo! News/The Hill

Wed, April 22, 2026 at 9:37 AM EDT


House Minority Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that Democrats will “make sure” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel are next to depart the Trump administration.

During an interview MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell, Jeffries pointed to the recent departures of former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from Trump’s Cabinet as examples. Both Noem and Bondi were frequent targets of Democrats’ criticisms. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer also resigned from her post this week as she faced an inspector general probe over alleged misconduct.

“We’re going to make sure that Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel are on their way out the door as well,” Jeffries told “The Last Word” host. “These are people who should have never been confirmed by Senate Republicans.” “Shame on them for putting these unqualified individuals into these positions of great significance and sensitivity,” he added.

Democrats have criticized Hegseth throughout his time in office, but particularly during the war with Iran. The Pentagon chief has used maximalist rhetoric when discussing the conflict, which began on Feb. 28 with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/jeffries-democrats-working-sure-hegseth-133752048.html