So says reporting. Why the "no shit" headline comment, this link.
Either Susie and Ron had a come-to-Jesus talk and understanding, or this is to sidetrack DeSantis from competition with JD in 2028, as per Rubio getting his SoS nomination.
Or, there might be other reasons, or the reporting could be incorrect.
UPDATE: This is a maybe story, not a done deal swap. MSN reports Hegseth is alive and well with some GOP senators convinced he'd be good at DOD.
_________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Guardian weighs in today, Dec. 4 -
Despite the rumours, [of DeSantis being swapped in for him] Hegseth, 44, told reporters on Wednesday morning that Trump encouraged him to “keep fighting”.
“I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said, keep going, keep fighting,” he said. “Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter.”
Later on Wednesday, Hegseth sat down with Megyn Kelly for an interview on her SiriusXM show and lambasted the criticism he’s received.
“We’re going to fight like hell. There’s no reason to back down. Why would we back down?” Hegseth said.
Asked if he’s being “Kavanaughed”, a reference to the 2018 supreme court nomination of and backlash to Brett Kavanaugh, Hegseth emphasized that people are making things up about him.
But, he said: “Kavanaugh stood up and he fought and he won and hopefully Republicans have learned that lesson.”
Trump raised his fist, blood running down his face, saying, "Fight, fight, fight!"
Or was that another time and place? In any event the Republican Senators know who DeSantis is and has been, so floating this switch might be sending them a poison pill to keep them on the Hegseth team. Guardian also noted -
“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers. The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of [Donald Trump] – and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth. Our warriors never back down, & neither will I,” Hegseth wrote on X on Wednesday morning.
I'll drink to that.
__________FURTHER UPDATE___________
FOX employees vigorously dispute drinking problem allegation.
So, dispute over "rape" and drinking; but the money situations at the two veteran organizations/fronts Hegseth headed still have not been disputed.
Also, besides budget, is Hegseth up to weapons system planning management? He is intelligent, but his combat experience has been ground forces and Guantanamo.
Trump has nominated an Army Secretary. Not yet naming Navy or Air Force Secretaries. Nor other second level DoD people. As bet known, now, 12/5 morning.
__________FURTHER UPDATE________
YouTube, three items: Mom on FOX. Pete interviewed (starts at 3:40 min point). Colbert.
The first two are boosting the nominee. As expected. The third, first 2/3, is comedy against. No commentary posted here. I only watched the third item. (A bit of the interview. Mom, only to check it displayed okay, sound was clear.) Colbert was not that funny.
What I saw of the interview, Pete was smooth, but . . . some may like his style, others less so. His style is FOX.
Last thought, the more I reflect on it, Ron DeSantis as the alternative is a threat, not a promise. Trump will stick with Hegseth, and wants it to pass. GOP Senators?
Guess.
____________FURTHER UPDATE___________
AP, 12/4 "Trump selects a former soldier and Iraq War veteran to serve as Army secretary". Detail -
Daniel P. Driscoll, who is from North Carolina, had been serving as a senior advisor to Vice President-elect JD Vance, whom he met when both were attending Yale Law School. He ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for a North Carolina congressional seat in 2020, getting about 8% of the vote in a crowded field of candidates.
“Dan will be a fearless and relentless fighter for America’s Soldiers and the America First agenda,” Trump said on his social media platform.
If confirmed, Driscoll, 38, would take the helm of a military branch that has been struggling to overcome recruiting shortfalls through a sweeping overhaul of its programs and staffing. The Army is also undertaking a widespread effort to revamp and modernize its weapons systems.
Since his graduation from Yale in 2014 and his tour in the Army, Driscoll has worked at several investment banking and consulting firms in North Carolina.
According to the Army, Driscoll served as an armor officer from August 2007 to March 2011, deploying to Iraq from October 2009 to July 2010.
So far Hegseth and Driscoll are the only announced DOD nominees. Crabgrass has not seen any published items question Driscoll, or critical of him.
Wikipedia adds -
Driscoll served in the United States Army for three and a half years as a Cavalry Scout Platoon Leader. He was deployed to Iraq in 2009.
During law school, Driscoll interned for the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Ninth Circuit chief judge Alex Kozinski, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson.[5]
Crabgrass is guessing, Hegseth's nomination was pure Trump; Driscoll's nomination likely was Trump, influenced greatly by JD's judgment.