White House denies Hegseth and Rubio to leave jobs after Republican election losses

The White House has denied rumours that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio might leave their jobs in a post-election shakeup of the Trump administration. US media have reported there are calls to replace Hegseth - in particular over his handling of the Iran war, which is being blamed for heavy Republican election losses. One outgoing congressional Republican has threatened to force an impeachment vote against Hegseth as early as next week. The defence secretary posted a video statement defending his record and denouncing the effort.

"You see, they attack me. They attack us because we are effective," he said. "It's not going to work. We will not back down." "I love the work I'm doing," Rubio said.

"And plus I always laugh when they say he's going to leave his job. I go, 'Which one?'" The White House and US State Department also shut down reports that Rubio might be leaving after this week's midterm losses, with both calling it "fake news".