Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Faces Resignation Calls Over Wife’s Presence in Sensitive Meetings

Jennifer Hegseth attended high-level Pentagon and NATO discussions without confirmed security clearance, raising national security concerns.

Pete Hegseth brought his wife, Jennifer Hegseth, to at least two high-level defense meetings, including a March 6 Pentagon meeting with U.K. Secretary of Defense John Healey and a February NATO meeting in Brussels.
The meetings involved discussions of sensitive topics, such as the U.S. decision to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine and allied military support for Ukraine, according to reports.
Jennifer Hegseth, a former Fox News producer, is not a Defense Department employee, and her security clearance status remains unconfirmed by the Department of Defense.
Defense experts and former officials have criticized her inclusion, describing it as highly irregular and potentially compromising to national security protocols.
The controversy adds to scrutiny over Hegseth’s earlier Signal chat leak involving sensitive airstrike details, with growing bipartisan calls for his resignation.