Patricia Lopez, Columnist

A Nebraska Republican Could Be the New John McCain

Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska has been one of the few House Republicans willing to speak his mind on issues like tariffs, Ukraine and Pete Hegseth.

April 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM UTC

By Patricia Lopez

Patricia Lopez is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. She is a former member of the editorial board at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she also worked as a senior political editor and reporter.

Unbowed.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

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Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska is displaying a level of backbone and independence unique among House Republicans.

On Monday he became the only Republican in the House to call for Pete Hegseth’s dismissal over allegations that the Defense Secretary revealed imminent attack plans to family members and his lawyer via a Signal chat. Hegseth has not denied sending the chat, but said — as he did after an earlier Signal chat was revealed — that he did not reveal classified information.

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