Can Defense Department employees run for political office? No, because the Defense Department prohibits civilian employees from running for political office under the Hatch Act, a

On July 29, NBC reported that Hegseth has "privately discussed the idea of running for political office." While the Pentagon’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell denied any idea of Hegseth vying for the governorship in Tennessee, the Secretary of Defense could run for office should he choose to leave his current post.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly weighing a run for office in Tennessee, according to two people familiar with the discussions. While the Pentagon is pushing back, NBC News’ Gordon Lubold tells @alivitali on #WayTooEarly the denial was “not as strong as we might have thought.