Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defiantly denounced the impeachment effort led by GOP Rep. Thomas Massiecalling it a “farce” and “political spectacle” ahead of an expected House vote on the measure later today.
“What a disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, nor accountability. It is a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” Hegseth said.
The defense secretary called Massie’s impeachment attempt an attempt to harm President Trump because of his own “personal animosity” toward the president and his dislike of the Trump administration’s policies.
“It’s a prank, it’s a set-up, and everyone knows it,” he said.
The House is expected to consider the impeachment resolution Tuesday evening, Massie said, but it will likely first hold a procedural vote to table the measure.
In his remarks to the Defense Department, Hegseth said impeachment efforts against him are only the first step and will then lead to action against servicemembers who participated in strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
“None of these are serious crimes or misdemeanors,” he said. “These are partisan political disagreements from people who want to politicize our military.”
Hegseth compared the impeachment attempt to Mr. Trump’s two impeachments. While the House vote twice for accuse President during his first term, he was twice acquitted by the Senate.
“If standing with President Trump gets me into this business, I will take this business any day of the week,” he said. Hegseth said the House never moved to impeach his predecessor, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who served during the Biden administration.
Hegseth listed actions the Defense Department has taken so far in Mr. Trump’s second term, including launching military operations against Iran, and praised the president for showing leadership in going to war against Tehran.
The defense secretary said he has a “ton of support” on Capitol Hill and said Republicans “don’t want to vote for something that’s not real,” echoing his assertion that the articles of impeachment are “flimsy.”
Shortly after Hegseth finished his remarks, Mr. Trump praised his Pentagon chief and denounced Massie.
“Pete Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, MORE, MORE for his defense against a disgruntled, angry and defeated former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!” the president wrote on Truth Social.
The briefing comes a day after Massie presented updated articles of impeachment against Hegseth. The resolution accuses Hegseth of abusing his office by starting the war in Iran without congressional approval, ignoring laws designed to minimize civilian casualties and retaliating against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, among other allegations. Under House rules, the chamber has two legislative days to schedule a vote.
Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, has been criticizing Hegseth for months. But his new impeachment campaign follows resounding Republican defeats in the midterms, which members of both parties blamed on the war in Iran and soaring energy prices. State of war unclear, Trump says said Monday he plans to maintain the “status quo” and does not believe an escalation of the war is necessary.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents New York, said Monday afternoon that he was “an emphatic yes” to the impeachment resolution, telling reporters that Hegseth “abused his power” and was “the architect of the reckless and costly failure of Iran’s war of choice.”
It remains to be seen whether Republicans other than Massie will vote in favor of the articles of impeachment. Massie said Monday afternoon that he had no commitment from any other Republican to support him.
Until Democrats take control of the House in January, any impeachment attempt would require the support of at least three Republicans — if all Democrats vote for and depending on possible absences. Removing Hegseth from office by convicting him in the Senate is a much bigger task, requiring more than a dozen Republicans to participate in the effort.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, told CBS News that “to impeach a Cabinet secretary right now … in the middle of hostilities overseas would be a terrible, terrible sight.”
The GOP leader told reporters Tuesday that he expects the House to defeat the impeachment drive.
“You don’t remove a Cabinet secretary lightly,” Johnson said. “They didn’t have due process. There’s nothing that goes into this. It’s just for people to get attention, and it’s shameful.”
Other Republicans have not definitively ruled it out. Representative French Hill of Arkansas said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” this weekend: “I want to hear the debate on this to see whether he deserves impeachment versus some other disciplinary action or action by the president if he’s not doing his job running the War Department.”
Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska, a moderate who is retiring in January, said Monday that he was “struggling” with the issue, telling reporters: “I don’t think he was a good secretary, but do you impeach a man for that?”
Asked by reporters about the impeachment request, Hegseth said Monday, “We’re not concerned about that.”
In a social media video last week, Hegseth criticized Massie, who will leave Congress in January after losing his primary to a Trump-backed challenger.
“A disgruntled and defeated Congressman, along with all of his Democratic allies, also published false articles of impeachment against yours truly, just like they tried twice against President Trump,” Hegseth said in the video.
Mr. Trump told reporters on Monday that he would stand with Hegseth if he were impeached, defending his Pentagon chief and calling Massie a “hard-core loser.”
“What did Hegseth do?” he said. “Pete Hegseth won two wars. ‘Oh, let’s impeach him.'”
Massie said Monday: “I would like to see him go through the eight articles of impeachment. Just present your argument from a podium. You can use notes. Get the lawyers to help you. Tell us why you are not guilty of each of these eight articles of impeachment.”
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