Former Air Force secretary: Hegeseth’s Pentagon ‘dysfunctional’

descriptions off, selected

captions settings, opens captions settings dialog

Subtitles (en), selected

This is a modal window.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

End of dialog window.

Today's top stories - September 3, 2026

Today's top stories - September 3, 2026

Former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall III on Wednesday called the Defense Department under Secretary Pete Hegseth “dysfunctional.”

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Kendall, who served under the Biden and Obama administrations, for his assessment of Hegseth’s handling of the military and the Pentagon. The former secretary accused the Pentagon chief of doing “active harm” to the department.

“In a word, it’s dysfunctional,” Kendall continued. “I’ve worked with and had a chance to work for maybe a dozen secretaries of Defense. He’s doing active harm to the Department of Defense. It’s not passive. It’s active harm.”

The ex-official said the “enormous damage” to the department will take several years “or decades to go repair this and restore the type of system........

© The Hill