A Republican leader attacks the US Secretary of Defense... and a Democratic representative calls for his removal

The Republican leader in the US House of Representatives Oversight Committee criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following the party's heavy defeat in the midterm elections, and said on Friday: "We have no idea what strategy will be followed towards Iran in the next stage."

Republican Representative James Comer of Kentucky said in an interview with NewsNation: “I can say with complete confidence that there are many questions about Hegseth. No one is satisfied with what is happening with regard to Iran, and I think Republican voters are more dissatisfied with this situation than Democratic voters.”

Asked whether he supported replacing Hegseth, Coomer said only that this was "a decision that President (Donald) Trump will have to make."

The criticism of this prominent leader in the Republican Party in the House of Representatives is the latest blow in an escalating campaign launched by the Republican Party to make Hegseth a scapegoat for the crushing losses the party suffered in the midterm elections. It comes ahead of plans by another Republican member from Kentucky, Representative Thomas Massie, to hold a vote on the removal of the Secretary of Defense when Congress returns to session next week.

Trump acknowledged earlier this week that he had received calls from allies dissatisfied with the Secretary of Defense, although he repeatedly denied any plans to fire him.

For his part, Hegseth expressed a defiant stance, pledged to confront the attempt to isolate him, and affirmed his intention to continue in his position until the end of Trump's term.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, after being re-elected to Congress in South Carolina, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy should be removed. Kennedy Jr.

"We must seek to fix the chaos, costs and corruption that run rampant in Washington today," Clyburn told CNN's Pamela Brown on The Situation Room. "And we can do that by working to hold these people accountable for their actions. This is especially true of Hegseth and Robert Kennedy Jr."

The Democratic representative indicated that the majority of senators are “dissatisfied with Hegseth,” and expressed his frustration at the way the Defense Minister treats women and black military personnel.

In a separate context, Clyburn warned against any attempts to isolate President Donald Trump, but expressed his support for conducting investigations into the president.

"We must uncover the roots of this corruption and root it out," he said. "It is a growing cancer in our democracy - one family working to enrich itself at the expense of the American people."