The House could vote this week on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The resolution is expected to be filed early this week with a vote to follow, and the top Democrat in the House says he’s on board. “I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “Pete Hegseth has got to go,” NBC News reported.
The push is being led by a Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. He filed a resolution in September, but GOP leaders canceled planned votes and the House left early, pushing it past the election.
Why do lawmakers want to impeach Hegseth?
Mostly the Iran war. Jeffries says Hegseth “has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe.” Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, introduced her own impeachment resolution back in April.
Massie made clear this is only the start. His resolution, he wrote, “is a much gentler version of what’s coming when Dem’s control Congress,” with “hearings & trials.” Democrats said they’d discuss Tuesday morning whether every Democrat will back it.
What has Hegseth said about impeachment?
He’s fighting it. In a video posted on social media, he called Massie a “disgruntled, defeated congressman” and said, “It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me.” President Trump has publicly said Hegseth is “doing a very good job,” though NBC reports Trump has told allies he was considering replacing him. We covered that tension last week in Will Pete Hegseth get fired?.
Even if the House votes to impeach, removal is a long shot. It takes a two-thirds vote in the Senate, and this is the lame-duck Congress, before the new Democratic majorities won on Nov. 3 take over in January.
The BeezLoop Take
When a sitting Republican is the one forcing a vote to impeach a Republican defense secretary, it’s not just partisan theater. Voters just punished the party over the Iran war and prices, and some Republicans clearly want distance from the person running it.
Impeachment is a heavy tool, and Democrats should be specific about what Hegseth did that rises to it. “Reckless war of choice” is a policy argument. Impeachment should rest on abuse of power or law-breaking that can be shown, not just a bad war.
The open question: how many Republicans vote yes, and does Trump decide it’s easier to replace Hegseth than defend him?
Sources: NBC News · ABC News (video)
