Hegseth is a cabinet member, and can vote to save his job. 11 votes plus the Vice President are needed. If Hegseth thinks he is about to be sacked, and thinks the decision is irrational, timing is critical. One wonders if these leaks, suggestions, are all about the said target trying to secure an alternative position that pays well (secures their silence), rather than the risk of a former Fox pundit returning to the airwaves.Anthony Scaramucci and Sean Spicer come to mind. The so-called MAGA movement has clear splits; there are the loyalists, who believe in everything the President does, there are the apolitical opportunists, like Lindsey Graham, who look for personal political gain, there are the self-preservationists; conventional Republicans with an eye on the polls, who went along because of a sense of self-preservation (of their seats), and then the Ultras, who were former acolytes, or rather, there was a time when their beliefs crossed sufficiently with Trumps, that they decided they could lend him their support. The latter are most ideological, not driven by looking at the polls. Hegseth likely belongs in that area; any man who, in middle age, decides to get contentious tattoos for the first time is a bit suspect. MTG as well, and their believes are vocalised by Tucker Carlson, who superficially sounds very reasonable, but when you dig deeper, there is something very dark.
