{"id":15199,"date":"2026-11-10T16:18:59","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T16:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=15199"},"modified":"2026-11-10T16:18:59","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T16:18:59","slug":"hegseth-slams-impeachment-push-as-political-spectacle-undermining-us-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=15199","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth slams impeachment push as ‘political spectacle’ undermining US troops"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth takes questions during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on Tuesday. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth which the House could vote on as early as this week. UPI-Yonhap<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dug in for a fight Tuesday against his potential impeachment in Congress, contending that a rogue lawmaker is undermining American troops in war zones by targeting him over mere \u201cpolicy disagreements\u201d and not the high crimes required in the Constitution for his possible removal.<\/p>\n

The embattled Pentagon chief has launched a counteroffensive against outgoing Republican Rep. Thomas Massie\u2019s effort to force him from office over his handling of the unpopular Iran war and other actions.<\/p>\n

Hegseth gave a defiant and politicized defense of his stewardship of the U.S. military in his first news conference at the Pentagon in six months. He chose to hit back at the rising bipartisan anger over battlefield strategy while offering few details about intermittent operations against Iran or fatal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in Latin America.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump praised Hegseth\u2019s performance in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Hegseth framed the impeachment effort as an indictment against the nation\u2019s service members and their successes while undermining American forces \u201cin real time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not patriotism,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cThis is sabotage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth said the impeachment resolution \u201ctells our enemies \u2014 Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching \u2014 the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

An impeachment vote could come this week<\/strong><\/p>\n

Massie, who lost his primary in Kentucky to a Trump-backed opponent, filed the resolution in the House on Monday. It sets the stage for a dramatic vote on whether to remove a key Trump administration Cabinet member following sweeping losses for Republicans in last week’s midterm elections, which many at least partly blamed on the Iran conflict and its economic impact.<\/p>\n

The resolution largely focuses on the war in Iran but also includes references to Hegseth\u2019s role in military actions in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Venezuela. Massie said Hegseth\u2019s actions amount to \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors\u201d and his leadership at the Pentagon \u201cwarrants impeachment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth said Massie\u2019s concerns are not impeachable, calling them \u201cpolicy disagreements, not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause.\u201d<\/p>\n

What constitutes \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors\u201d is not spelled out in the Constitution, leaving it to lawmakers to decide what are impeachable acts. A vote in the House could come by midweek, putting pressure on Republicans \u2014 many of whom blamed their election wipeout on the fallout from the Iran war \u2014 but next steps are highly uncertain.<\/p>\n

Hegseth also condemned the effort as \u201ca political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn’t the first impeachment attempt in recent years<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hegseth cast Massie’s resolution in historic terms, arguing that no defense secretary has been impeached in the nation’s 250-year history \u201cfor carrying out lawful military operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

But more recently, a Cabinet official in President Joe Biden’s administration, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, was impeached by House Republicans over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. But the Senate dismissed all impeachment charges, shutting down his trial before arguments even began.<\/p>\n

Mayorkas, who did not appear to testify before the impeachment proceedings, put the border crisis squarely on Congress for failing to update immigration laws during a time of global migration. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had said then, in April 2024, that House Republicans\u2019 charges failed to meet \u201cthe high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors\u201d and could set a dangerous precedent.<\/p>\n

Before Mayorkas, a sitting Cabinet secretary had never been impeached. It was nearly 150 years ago that the House voted to impeach President Ulysses S. Grant\u2019s war secretary, William Belknap, over a kickback scheme in government contracts. He resigned before the vote.<\/p>\n

Trump offers support for Hegseth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump has backed Hegseth in the wake of Massie’s impeachment resolution, pointing to the U.S. military raid to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in January as well as operations against Iran that he asserts have \u201cobliterated\u201d its navy and air force.<\/p>\n

\u201cPete Hegseth gets an \u201cA\u201d PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!\u201d Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social.<\/p>\n

Iran, however, has been able to keep striking U.S. military bases in the Middle East and has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the more than 8-month-old conflict, driving up global oil prices.<\/p>\n

Trump told reporters Monday that the Iran war \u201cmilitarily is effectively over” and repeated his often-made claim that Tehran \u201cwould love to make a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides public comments, Hegseth also has been defending his leadership of the U.S. military in a social media blitz. He released a video last week arguing impeachment would be \u201call about the politics of personal destruction\u201d and that \u201cwon\u2019t work with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scores of Pentagon political appointees have posted images of Hegseth emblazoned with the words, \u201cStand. Fight. Defend the Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth takes questions during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on Tuesday. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth which the House could vote on as early as this week. UPI-Yonhap WASHINGTON \u2014 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dug in for a fight Tuesday against his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","category-trending-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t