(Reuters) – The White House has begun the search for a new defense secretary, the NPR radio station reported on Monday, citing an unnamed official, after reports that incumbent Pete Hegseth shared details of a March attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group.

The White House has denied a report that it has begun searching for a new defense secretary after Hegseth reportedly shared details of a U.S. attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on a commercial messaging app.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the National Public Radio story on the search was not true.

“As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind ⁦@SecDef,” she wrote on X.

—

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Rami Ayyub and Doina Chiacu)