Opinion | Trump can fire Hegseth. The Pentagon will still struggle.

When Republican presidents take a beating in the midterms, Cabinet changes can come the next day.

In 2006, as Americans tired of President George W. Bush and a miscalculated war, Democrats swept control of Congress. The morning after the election, Bush forced out Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld: “The timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon,” Bush said, adding, “Iraq is not working well enough, fast enough.” Twelve years later, Democrats flipped the U.S. House on the night of President Donald Trump’s first midterm. By morning, he forced Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign for being insufficiently loyal, later saying the appointment was his “greatest mistake.”