Pete Hegseth ‘emboldened’ by firing of top military officials as he moves to ‘consolidate control’: report

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsPete Hegseth ‘emboldened’ by firing of top military officials as he moves to ‘consolidate control’: reportThe Defense Secretary remains defiant following nine hours of congressional testimony, and is now ‘more confident than ever in his job’Jasmine Fernández in Austin Saturday 02 May 2026 23:26 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2969566","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hegseth-trump-pentagon-job-security-b2969566.html","title":"Pete Hegseth ‘emboldened’ by firing of top military officials’: report"}}CloseHegseth challenged over 'imminent threat' used to justify Iran warSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politics",...