Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly angling for a Senate seat, as concerns mount that Democrats will move to impeach him after the midterm elections. Puck journalist Leigh Ann Caldwell first reported the story. As per her report, Hegseth, who is forty-six years old, is pushing Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to appoint him to her seat if she wins the Tennessee gubernatorial race and vacates it.Caldwell also noted that some Republicans are reportedly “hoping” President Donald Trump will fire Hegseth before a potential impeachment takes place, while others believe he could step down before that happens. On Hegseth’s Tennessee ties, she wrote that“Hegseth lived in Tennessee for three years before he took over the Pentagon, but his short tenure there might not count as real Tennessee roots.”Democratic strategist and content creator Mike Nellis, who has more than one hundred and forty thousand followers on X, did not hold back. As per his post on X, Nellis shared,“Not only is Hegseth reportedly planning to run for president, but he’s also been begging Marsha Blackburn to appoint him to the Senate if she wins the governor’s race in Tennessee.”“The man is delusional,” he added. Nellis then concluded,“Why would she do that?”(Nellis as per his social profile is a Democratic strategist, and the remarks above are his own. Notably, the claim that Hegseth is planning a presidential run appears in Nellis’s post and is not drawn from Leigh Ann Caldwell's Puck report.)Democrats are reportedly eyeing an investigation for Pete Hegseth:Pete Hegseth arrives at Dover Air Force Base on July 22, 2026 in Dover, Delaware - Source: GettyAs per a report shared by The Telegraph on October 21, 2026, sources have said former and current officials from Pentagon are allegedly preparing to walk straight to Congress with everything they know about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Democrats have reportedly already started a conversation with potential whistleblowers.The plan is to subpoena Hegseth’s inner circle if they take back the House after November’s midterms. Controversies like “Signalgate,” when Hegseth allegedly leaked United States military plans to a journalist, are reportedly set to be dug back up. Sources told The Telegraph that with the help of informants, Democrats are hoping to force embarrassing disclosures that would either lay the groundwork for impeachment or push President Donald Trump into letting Hegseth go before that ever happens.Sources described Pete Hegseth as particularly vulnerable, saying a string of costly blunders had left him isolated from people who might otherwise have been of some help. A well-connected source told The Telegraph,“There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to very quietly go to the chair of the armed [services] committee and are going to spill their guts, provide them with everything they can and leak everything they can.”“It’ll be horrendous. It’ll be consistent embarrassment,” they added.A former official who had a senior post at the administration was equally blunt. As per The Telegraph,“Hegseth has two huge problems. Through his arrogance, he’s made many former allies willing to work with Democrats to hold his feet to the fire for all the damage he’s done to our military.”Subpoena plans for Pete Hegseth and his inner circle as impeachment bar remains high:Pete Hegseth (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base on July 22, 2026 in Dover, Delaware - Source: GettyEven if Democrats build a compelling case against Pete Hegseth, the finish line is extraordinarily high. Conviction on impeachment charges requires two-thirds of senators to vote in favour, and no sitting cabinet secretary has ever cleared that bar. That has not stopped the push from gathering momentum, though.As per The Telegraph, articles of impeachment have already been introduced against him in the House, with three members of Congress having signed on, one of them a Republican. A Democratic congressman who asked to remain anonymous told the publication the goal was impeachment, though not before“we have done a thorough investigation and have all the facts to hand.”He acknowledged that Republican control of Congress had stymied earlier efforts. Democrats on the House oversight committee had previously tried to secure transcribed interviews with advisers who left the Pentagon following a purge in April last year, but reportedly lacked the enforcement power to make it happen.That changes if Democrats retake the House in November. Subpoenas are reportedly being planned for Hegseth, his wife Jen, and top aide Ricky Buria. Several senior figures who departed the Pentagon amid reported infighting with Hegseth, among them the former army secretary and the former navy secretary, are also expected to be called in. The investigation, as reported by The Telegraph, would run across the House oversight committee, the judiciary committee, and the armed services committee.The backdrop to all of this is a Pentagon that sources describe as deeply unsettled. Pete Hegseth has reportedly pushed out a string of senior military figures and top civilian officials since taking over the department, leaving behind what one source described as widespread disillusionment. Some figures in the building allegedly view him as a genuine “threat to national security.” A Pentagon source told The Telegraph they were prepared to work with Congress to “provide insight” into how the department had fallen into “chaos” on his watch. Republican senators, too, have reportedly grown dismayed at the disorder inside the Pentagon.A former official summed up the mood bluntly,“I hope he and his inner circle have some very strong legal insurance given what they’re facing once Democrats get the gavels.”