Pete Hegseth aggressively pushed back on a Fox News colleague’s report about a letter from Democrats to the defense secretary, claiming it was “fake news” despite the factual information.
Responding to a report from journalist Jen Griffin on X, Hegseth claimed Griffin and Democrats were the “same thing” and that neither “care about facts” because “they’re just Trump haters.”
Hours earlier, Griffin posted a letter from Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee to Hegseth asking the defense secretary to explain why he required more than $130,000 for home repairs for his government-furnished house, including $49,000 for an “emergency” paint job.
Democrats have asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to explain why he needs more than $100k to repair a government-furnished home. When a Fox News host shared the letter, Hegseth ripped his former colleague (Getty Images)
The Fox News chief national security correspondent stated that Democrats were asking why Hegseth needed money for home repairs in light of the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to drastically reduce federal spending.
Hegseth has requested $137,297 to repair the 4,000-square-foot government-furnished home.
In their letter, Democrats pointed out that Hegsth will earn an annual income of $246,000 and already has millions of dollars from his former career as a Fox News host. Democrats are asking Hegseth to answer their questions by the end of February.
Despite only sharing the letter sent from Congress, Hegseth claimed Griffin was sharing “fake news.”
“Any/all house repairs were going to happen no matter who was moving in–and were all initiated by [Department of Defense],” Hegseth wrote.
“But Dems/Jen don’t care about facts; they’re just Trump haters,” he added.
As defense secretary, Hegseth has the opportunity to live in government housing but it is more common for people in those positions to opt to live in private housing, according to Military.com. Former defense secretary Lloyd Austin lived in his own home in Great Falls, Virginia.
Since Hegseth is choosing to live in the home, Democrats have asked him to justify why he needs the government-provided home, why it needs to be improved and how much he plans to pay in rent.
“We know that many service members and their families currently live in unacceptable housing conditions including houses with mold, lead paint, and other hazards. What commitment will you make to provide service members with a similarly high quality of housing for themselves and their families?” the letter states.
Hegseth is one of President Donald Trump’s more controversial cabinet picks – and has become a target for Democrats.
Their request is more politicized by the fact that Trump and his right-hand man, billionaire Elon Musk, are making drastic changes to the federal government in order to reduce federal spending and make American taxpayer dollars more meaningful.
Musk and Trump are attempting to place thousands of federal workers on administrative leave and plan to axe many others that they believe are unnecessary – all in the name of saving money.
