Defiant Hegseth blasts impeachment effort as 'political spectacle'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday dismissed an effort to impeach him as "political spectacle," framing the push led by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie as an indictment against the troops -- as House GOP leaders mull how to quash the effort to remove the Pentagon's chief from office.
The press conference comes as calls to impeach Hegseth have grown as several Republicans have attributed the GOP's sweeping midterm losses to the Iran war. Outgoing Rep. Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth on the House floor Monday afternoon.
"What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it's not accountability. It's a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment," Hegseth said during a press conference at the Pentagon.
A defiant Hegseth on Tuesday morning said each of the military engagements mentioned as part of the effort -- including strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and the war with Iran -- were lawful actions directed by President Donald Trump. None of the operations were approved by Congress, which Massie pointed to in his articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
Hegseth framed the eight articles of impeachment as being directed at U.S. military service members.
Critiques of military operations have long been divorced from the valor and sacrifice of U.S. troops, going back to at least the Vietnam War, including Hegseth's own longstanding critiques of the chaotic withdraw from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden.
Hegseth pointed out that no Defense Secretary has ever been impeached "for carrying out lawful military operations, and in our case, successful ones at that."
Hegseth said that Massie wants to undo his work over "policy disagreements," saying none of the articles -- which range from skirting congressional approval to wage war against Iran to the unprecedented boat strikes in the Caribbean and East Pacific seas -- bring up high crimes, misdemeanors or treason.
The House must take up the measure, since impeachment is a privileged matter, within two legislative days -- forcing Republicans to go on the record after suffering major losses in the 2026 midterm elections.
The House plans to vote Tuesday afternoon on a procedural motion related to Massie’s impeachment effort. The procedural motion could be a GOP-led motion to table -- which would effectively kill the effort. It is unclear if this move will be successful. A source in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office says it’s unclear how that would play out procedurally.
Another path could be a motion to refer the resolution to a committee. If the motion to refer to committee prevails, the impeachment resolution could die in committee -- expiring at the end of the 119th Congress on Jan. 3. That would reset the process, and Democrats would have to take up the effort in the 120th Congress, if they choose.
Johnson has voiced opposition to Massie’s impeachment articles and said he believes Republicans will "defeat" the impeachment effort.
"We'll dispense with the impeachment gambit," Johnson said Tuesday afternoon.
After the articles of impeachment were introduced on Monday, Trump said during a press briefing that Hegseth has "won the war in Iran." Hegseth similarly declared victory during an April press conference.
"He certainly, I think, he's won the war in Iran, but he's certainly winning the war," Trump said of Hegseth. "Iran would love to make a deal. And they've been obliterated, their navy and their air force."
Hegseth on Tuesday sought to align his potential impeachment to Trump’s, effectively framing it as a sequel.
"You see, we've seen this show before," Hegseth said, later adding, "both times they failed" in impeaching Trump.
"Both times he came back stronger, and the American people sent him back to the White House," he added. "Now they're trying a third time. This time against a member of his Cabinet."
Trump in a post on his social media site said that Hegseth gets an "A plus, plus, plus for his defense against" Massie.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke in Paris shortly after Hegseth's Pentagon briefing, offered his own defense of Hegseth. He was asked about Hegseth's Department of Defense carrying out orders to take military action against Iran and against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, along with the strikes on alleged drug boats and the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
"Not only did Pete execute on a direct order from the commander-in-chief, who in our constitution is empowered and trusted with the job of keeping Americans safe, but they did it quite effectively in all those fronts," Rubio said.
