Hegseth Calls Impeachment Push ‘Sabotage,’ but Massie Says the House Will Vote Today
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called a House Republican’s push to impeach him “a farce” and “sabotage” at his first Pentagon news conference since May, the Associated Press reported, hours before a first House vote.
“What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, it’s not accountability. It’s a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” Hegseth said, according to Fox News.
The resolution from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger and leaves Congress in January, contains eight articles, CBS News reported. Three accuse Hegseth of waging war on Iran without approval from Congress.
Others cite the Pentagon’s strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the operation that captured Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
Hegseth said the effort “tells our enemies, Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching, that the United States will actually punish its own warriors,” HuffPost reported. “This is not patriotism. This is sabotage,” he said.
He cast Massie’s complaints as “policy disagreements” rather than high crimes. “The proper remedy for a policy disagreement, it’s legislation, it’s debate, it’s the next presidential election,” Hegseth said.
“Iran, the cartels, Maduro, Yemen, every one was a lawful operation ordered by the commander in chief, then ordered by myself, notified to Congress and executed by American warriors who did their jobs,” he said, Fox News reported.
“I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow,” Hegseth said. Maduro “was not kidnapped, he was brought to justice,” he added, Al Jazeera reported.
Hegseth also compared U.S. combat deaths across wars, saying some 60,000 Americans died in Vietnam and 37,000 in Korea, while 18 have been lost in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
He likened the effort to the two failed impeachments of President Trump. “Both times they failed. Both times he came back stronger,” Hegseth said, HuffPost reported. “They will fail again.”
He praised Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. “He did not kick the can. He kicked their teeth in,” Hegseth said.
Trump Grades the Performance as a Vote Nears
Trump weighed in on Truth Social Tuesday morning. “Pete Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!” he wrote, Fox News reported.
Massie wrote on X Tuesday that the House will vote today, starting with a procedural motion to kill the resolution, such as referring it to committee.
“If we can overcome that effort, we will proceed to a real debate and vote on the Articles of Impeachment,” he wrote.
Several House Republicans told Fox News Digital they believed Hegseth could be impeached, Fox News reported, pointing to absences by Republicans who lost their races. Most Republicans are still expected to oppose the resolution.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth is “100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump’s term in office,” the Associated Press reported.
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