Washington: The White House has initiated a process to find a new Pentagon chief, a U.S. broadcaster revealed Monday, following revelations that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly shared sensitive military information in a group chat that included his wife and brother.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the process began after The New York Times reported on Sunday that Hegseth had shared details about U.S. military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 15 through a Signal messaging chat. The chat reportedly included individuals not cleared to receive such sensitive information.

Hegseth has previously been embroiled in controversy over reports of sharing details of strikes in Yemen in another Signal chat that inadvertently included a journalist, raising concerns over his handling of classified information.

Earlier, President Donald Trump dismissed the NYT report as “fake news,” expressing continued support for Hegseth. “Pete’s doing a great job. Everybody’s happy,” Trump remarked to reporters during the White House Easter Egg Roll event.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also criticized the NPR report, labeling it as “fake news.” Leavitt took to X to assert, “This @NPR story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about. As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind @SecDef.”