Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is over the barrel again: News reports of a second Signal chat about the Houthi strikes in Yemen—this time including his wife, brother, and lawyer—and the unraveling of his top staff, including longtime loyalists, have created the inescapable impression that he’s in over his head. Over the past several days, Hegseth has fecklessly tried to deflect blame by impugning the media, even while hunting for Easter eggs at the White House with his kids. And a mid-afternoon post on X, from the Defense Department’s official account, said: “STILL HERE. STILL CRUSHING THE ENEMY.” Sure, it was a reference to the U.S. Navy presence in the Arabian Sea—but it could have been a message from Hegseth himself.