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Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defiantly denounced the impeachment effort led by GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, calling it a “farce” and “political spectacle” ahead of an expected vote in the House on the measure later in the day.
“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.
The defense secretary called Massie’s impeachment effort an attempt to harm President Trump because of his own “personal animus” for the president and dislike of the Trump administration’s policies.
“It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt, and everybody knows it,” he said.
The House is expected to take up the impeachment resolution Tuesday evening, Massie said, but will likely first hold a procedural vote to table the measure.
In his remarks at the Defense Department, Hegseth claimed that the impeachment effort targeting him is only the first step and will next lead to actions against service members who participated in strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
“None of these are high crimes or misdemeanors,” he said. “They’re partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicize our military.”
Hegseth likened the attempt to impeach him to Mr. Trump’s two impeachments. While the House voted twice to impeach the president during his first term, he was acquitted both times by the Senate.
“If standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I’ll take that company every 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 the actions the Defense Department has taken so far during Mr. Trump’s second term, including launching military operations against Iran, and hailed the president for demonstrating leadership by going to war with 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 isn’t real,” echoing his claim 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, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!” the president wrote on Truth Social.
The briefing comes one day after Massie introduced updated articles of impeachment against Hegseth. The resolution accuses Hegseth of abusing his office by launching the Iran war 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 Kentucky Republican, has criticized Hegseth for months. But his renewed impeachment push follows Republicans’ sweeping defeats in the midterms, which members of both parties blamed on the Iran war and soaring energy prices. The war’s status is unclear: Mr. Trump said Monday he plans to maintain the “status quo” and doesn’t believe escalating the war will be necessary.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents New York, said Monday afternoon he’s a “hard yes” on the impeachment resolution, telling reporters Hegseth “abused his power” and is the “architect of the reckless and costly failed war of choice in Iran.”
It remains to be seen whether Republicans other than Massie will vote in favor of the articles of impeachment. Massie said Monday afternoon he did not have a commitment from any other Republicans that they would support it.
Until Democrats take control of the House in January, any impeachment effort would need support from at least three Republicans — if all Democrats vote in favor and depending on any absences. Removing Hegseth from office by convicting him in the Senate is a much heavier lift, requiring more than a dozen Republicans to join the effort.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told CBS News “impeaching a Cabinet secretary right now … in the middle of hostilities abroad would be a terrible, terrible look.”
Other Republicans have not definitively ruled it out. Rep. French Hill of Arkansas said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” over the weekend, “I want to hear the debate on it to see if it merits impeachment versus some other disciplinary action or action by the president if he’s not getting the job done in leading the Department of War.”
Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a moderate who is retiring in January, said Monday he’s “wrestling” with the issue, telling reporters, “I don’t think he’s been a good secretary, but do you impeach a guy for that?”
Asked by reporters about the impeachment bid, Hegseth said Monday, “We’re not worried about that.”
In a social media video last week, Hegseth criticized Massie, who is leaving Congress in January after losing his primary to a Trump-backed challenger.
“A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly, just like they tried against President Trump twice,” Hegseth said in the video.
Mr. Trump told reporters Monday he will stand by Hegseth if he’s impeached, defending his Pentagon chief and calling Massie a “stone-cold loser.”
“What has Hegseth done?” 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 make the 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.”
