Politics

Hegseth Campaigns for Iowa Rep. Nunn, Departing Defense Secretary Norms

Defense secretaries have historically maintained distance from partisan electoral activity, making Hegseth's Iowa appearance a measurable shift in how the Pentagon's top civilian role intersects...

The Congressional Times · August 18, 2026

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth traveled to Iowa on or around August 18, 2026, to campaign for Representative Zach Nunn (R-IA), according to a report published by The New York Times. The appearance places Hegseth in an active electoral context while serving as a sitting cabinet official, a posture that the Times noted departs from conduct observed among predecessors in the role.

Nunn represents Iowa's third congressional district, which the Cook Political Report has rated as competitive in recent cycles. Federal election records maintained by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) would reflect any direct financial coordination between Hegseth's activities and Nunn's campaign committee; as of this report's publication date, the specific financial arrangements, if any, surrounding the Iowa appearance are not confirmed in public filings.

The Hatch Act of 1939, codified at 5 U.S.C. Section 7323, restricts certain federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity while on duty or using government resources. Presidential appointees confirmed by the Senate, including cabinet secretaries, operate under a modified set of Hatch Act provisions administered by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). Whether Hegseth's Iowa travel involved government aircraft or other federal resources is not confirmed in any public record reviewed for this report. The document that would answer this question is a travel voucher or flight manifest filed with the Department of Defense.

Former Defense Secretaries from both parties, including Robert Gates under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and Ash Carter under President Obama, did not make public campaign appearances on behalf of congressional candidates during their tenures, according to contemporaneous reporting. James Mattis, who served under President Trump during the first term, similarly did not campaign for congressional candidates while in office, per public records and reporting from that period.

The Office of Special Counsel has jurisdiction to investigate potential Hatch Act violations by executive branch officials and can refer findings to the Merit Systems Protection Board or, for certain officials, to the President. Whether the OSC has opened or is considering any inquiry into Hegseth's Iowa appearance is unknown. A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the OSC or a congressional oversight inquiry would be the appropriate mechanism to determine that status.

What remains unknown as of August 18, 2026: whether government transportation was used for the Iowa trip, whether any formal OSC review has been initiated, and the full schedule and sponsors of the campaign event. The Department of Defense press office and Nunn's campaign committee did not provide on-record responses in time for publication.

We Follow the Data, Not the Narrative

The Congressional Times exists because public records are public — and the analysis built from them should not be exclusive to those who can afford $60,000-a-year intelligence subscriptions.

Every story published in The Congressional Times is sourced to a verifiable public record: a court filing, a Senate lobbying disclosure, an FEC contribution record, a USASpending contract, or a verified news report. We state our sources inline. We show our math. When we are wrong, we say so publicly.

We do not editorialize in news coverage. We do not use loaded language. Both political parties are held to identical standards.

The Follow the Money investigations are the heart of this publication. Each begins with Gab-E Political Intelligence running against 10+ million government records before a single word of editorial is written.

How We Source, Verify, and Correct Our Work

Every factual claim in a Congressional Times story is checked against a primary source: a government filing, a court record, a direct quote, before publication. When a claim can't be verified or doesn't hold up as originally reported, we drop it or reframe it. We do not publish disputed claims as settled fact.

When we get it wrong: we correct the story directly, note the correction and date at the bottom of the piece, and update the record. We do not quietly edit and move on.

Bylines: stories with a named byline are written and fact-checked by that person. Stories without a byline are sourced from Gab-E Political Intelligence, our automated research platform, and are labeled as such.

Ownership: The Congressional Times is published by Gab-E Holdings LLC. Gab-E, our intelligence platform, powers our sourcing and research pipeline.

Corrections or concerns: support@gab-e.com