Washington Week with The Atlantic

airs Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 at 8PM on PBS (check local listings) *** Secretary Hegseth on Defense  Pete Hegseth's tenure leading the Pentagon has been marred by missteps and scandals. This has been a particularly bruising week, after he was accused of committing possible war crimes and potentially endangering the lives of American troops. In public, President Trump supports Hegseth, but behind closed doors, his standing in the Trump administration doesn’t appear to be as secure.  Joining editor...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is caught in daily clashes with people who think he is destroying science, including members of his own family, and those who think he is saving it. But as he takes on the medical establishment, what led to his decision to turn away from Democrats, the party of his famous father and uncle, to become a backer of President Trump?

In ordinary times, a reminder to America’s men and women in uniform that it is their responsibility to disobey illegal orders would pass without much comment from anyone. But when six Democratic lawmakers, all veterans of the military and intelligence agencies, issued this general reminder, President Trump accused them of sedition and suggested that they be executed.

For months, the White House has been doing somersaults to distract from what has now become a scandal so combustible that it’s creating fissures with the Republican Party. A small but powerful group of otherwise Trump loyalists is siding with Democrats, demanding the release of files that may offer greater transparency into the influence and connections of the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.