“I’ve said since I launched this campaign, Pete Hegseth is the most unqualified secretary that this nation has seen,” Rep.-elect Nancy Lacore (D-SC), a retired Navy vice admiral, told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation last week.
Hegseth, Lacore said, “has caused significant damage to us as a country and put us at risk.” She cited the Iran War and military action in Venezuela as potential impeachable offenses.
Hegseth removed Lacore in August 2025 as chief of the Navy Reserve, overseeing 60,000 sailors. “I was never given a reason when I was removed from my position in August 2025,” she said, according to Stars and Stripes. “I don’t think any of the other generals and admirals were ever given reasons either.”
Margaret Brennan: “we spoke friday with democratic congresswoman-elect nancy lacore, a former navy vice admiral and a mom of six, who flipped a seat in south carolina as part of last week’s blue wave. she’s a former registered republican who says she left the party in 2016 because of president trump. we began by asking her what areas she thinks she could work on with the president.”
Nancy Lacore: “i see a lot of opportunities because of what the new congress is going to look like. there’s a significant majority this time. there are a lot of veterans who are now elected soon-to-be official congressmen and women. and as veterans, we don’t really care what your political affiliation is. we just focus on achieving the mission. and i think that’s what you’re going to see out of this new congress.”
Margaret Brennan: “well, you said on the campaign trail that your mission would be bringing down the cost of housing, medical care, health care, getting rid of tax breaks for data centers. that’s a long to-do list. do you have a sense from democratic leaders what the first initiative will be in the new congress?”
Nancy Lacore: “the things that i’m going to focus on on day one, first of all, will be to end this war, because that has driven up costs extraordinarily high across the district and the country. we also need to look at repealing some of these tariffs that have driven up a variety of other costs, including those of building new homes. and one big beautiful bill. there’s some great pieces to the one big beautiful bill, but there’s some very, pieces that have done a lot of damage and made things a lot more unaffordable. i love to talk about the fact that we’re not paying taxes on tips or social security, and i think that’s great. but we need to make that permanent, because right now those are going to expire with the end of this administration.”
Margaret Brennan: “nine out of 10 voters said government corruption was a crucial or major factor in their vote. they put it right up there with the cost of living. leader jeffries, likely to be speaker jeffries, has said there should be accountability, but the american people don’t want us to get even. they want us to get things done, because life is too expensive. so what does accountability look like? do you need investigations, or do you need legislation?”
Nancy Lacore: “it probably depends, i think, on what specifically we’re talking about. we need to put some rules in place to make sure that our elected officials are not trading stocks. that is one area that we’ve seen, i think, extensive corruption there with insider information. but we also need to overturn end citizens united and make sure that we are getting that dark money out of politics so representatives can answer to their constituents and not insider interests.”
Margaret Brennan: “so when we look at your bio, you will be the highest-ranking female military officer ever to be elected to congress. no female admiral or general has ever served before. you were chief of the navy reserve until you were relieved from your position by secretary hegseth in august of 2025. he has said he’s cutting the number of high-ranking officers by 20%, but he’s also said he’s ending diversity initiatives, or dei. do you have any idea why he targeted you?”
Nancy Lacore: “i don’t. i was never given a reason when i was removed from my position in august of 2025. i don’t think any of the other generals and admirals were ever given reasons either. and frankly, at this point, it doesn’t really matter. it opened a door for me to do what i’m doing now and continuing my service in congress.”
Margaret Brennan: “secretary hegseth released a video thursday arguing that attempts to oust him from office are about his rebuilding of the force. here’s a clip.”
Pete Hegseth: “diversity is not our strength. our unity is. men and women, they’re not the same thing. but in the military, they must be held to the same standard. strong young men who believe in something greater than themselves are admirable.”
Margaret Brennan: “went on to call being transgender a mental illness. he dismissed a reference to white rage. he said that seemed to be maybe about renaming military bases and taking confederate general names off of them. of all of these initiatives, what do you think the impact has been on the us military?”
Nancy Lacore: “i’ve said since i launched this campaign, pete hegseth is the most unqualified secretary that this nation has seen. he has caused significant damage to us as a country and put us at risk and really damaged the readiness of our entire military force. he is focused on the wrong things. he should be focused on strategy and readiness instead of these things that are down in the trenches.”
@margbrennan: “what do you think would be an impeachable offense? because i know there is an effort underway in this congress to do so. you’ve said you hope that gets taken care of before you come to washington.”
@nancylacore: “yeah, i mean, i think there’s probably plenty. and i do believe that this will be handled before i get there. we can tie this war as one thing that is extremely damaging to our country. some of the things that we saw going on down off venezuela as well. but really, it’s all part of the problem with the corruption and the lack of strategy, which is doing nothing but really driving up costs for people. and that’s what people really care about. and so that’s what i want to focus on when i get to congress.”
— corgi (@wordsdematthew) November 8, 2026
Asked about Hegseth’s alleged impeachable offenses, she said there are “probably plenty,” and “I do believe that this will be handled before I get there.” Lacore flipped South Carolina’s 1st District, which Trump won by 13 points in 2024, by fewer than 4,000 votes.
[NOTE: Hegseth survived Massie’s impeachment push, so another avenue would have to emerge for his situation to be “handled” before Lacore arrives in Congress.]
Lacore’s mention of other military brass dismissed by the Defense Secretary points to what Pentagon watchers have called a “purge” of top leadership under Hegseth’s watch.
Hegseth said in September the Pentagon is cutting about one in five generals and admirals to streamline leadership, and he rejected claims it’s a purge.
At his first Pentagon briefing since May, on Tuesday, Hegseth defended himself against Massie’s attacks, saying the charges were “partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicize our military.”
“Put the secretary on trial today,” he said, “and then men and women who carried out those orders tomorrow.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth “will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points.”
Hegseth received support from President Trump and every Republican who voted, though some voted to kill the resolution despite disapproving of Hegseth. “I’m personally not a fan of the secretary. I don’t think he was the right guy in the job,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE).