The White House has rejected claims that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are about to leave office after Republican losses in the midterm elections.

Media reports have described mounting pressure to replace Hegseth over his handling of the Iran war. An outgoing Republican lawmaker has threatened to force an impeachment vote as early as next week, and Hegseth has released a video defending his record. Officials insist he retains the president's confidence and will remain at the Pentagon.

Rubio has separately denied that he is stepping aside to prepare a 2028 presidential run. He says his plan is to keep working for President Donald Trump until the end of the term. The White House and the State Department have labelled exit rumours about him as fake news.

The denials land in a raw political climate. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have both been blamed, including by voices inside their own party, for tying the Iran conflict to the midterm defeat and to Democratic control of the House. Cabinet stability is now part of the argument over whether the administration doubles down or resets.

For allies and adversaries watching Washington, the message is meant to be continuity: the war cabinet stays, diplomacy stays with Rubio, and talk of an early scramble for 2028 is premature. For critics in Congress the opposite reading applies: that midterm punishment has not yet produced personnel consequences at the top of defence and foreign policy.

Unless resignations are announced, the public position is unchanged. Hegseth remains defence secretary, Rubio remains secretary of state, impeachment talk from a departing member is a threat rather than a concluded process, and the White House calls speculation about both men leaving a fiction.