WASHINGTON — Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican, has launched a plan to trigger a vote to impeach Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, after the Republican Party’s wipeout loss in the midterm elections on November 3. The move came after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance conceded that the United States’ war with Iran played a part in the GOP’s loss.
On November 4, CNN reported that Massie was spearheading a plan to impeach Hegseth, and multiple GOP sources expect the vote to pass after Congress returns next week. Massie confirmed his plans in an X post, saying the only way to stop him from releasing the articles of impeachment is if Hegseth resigns. “There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns,” Massie wrote.
Massie is not the only politician targeting Hegseth in the aftermath of the midterm election. Rep. Jason Crow, the Colorado Democrat, posted a video on November 4 listing his reasons for “going after” Hegseth, which included his alleged incompetence, corruption, and threats to livestream executions. “I’m going after Pete Hegseth. Not only is he incompetent and corrupt, but he is undermining our national security and the safety of our troops,” Crow said.
President Donald Trump defended Hegseth amid reports of his impeachment, saying the Secretary of War was “doing a very good job” when asked whether he had plans to replace him during a press conference on November 4. However, a Trump adviser claimed that Hegseth “could be on the chopping block” because of the war, saying, “Someone is going to get blamed for this, and you know it’s not going to be him [Trump].” CNN also reported that Trump was fond of Hegseth, with an anonymous official saying: “Just two days ago the president was in the room with him [Hegseth], telling him, ‘You’re my best guy. You’re the best guy I have.’”
Multiple sources told CNN that Hegseth allegedly played a vital part behind the scenes in spurring the United States war against Iran, claiming that he “oversold the US’ ability to win the conflict quickly and easily.” A former senior Pentagon official told CNN: “This [the war] has been primarily a Department of War-led effort because you chose to take military action to resolve a foreign policy matter.” Trump named Hegseth as a main advocate of the conflict at a Memphis Safe Task Force roundtable in Tennessee on March 23, saying, “Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said: ‘Let’s do it, because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.’”
Both Trump and Vance have admitted that the war and its consequences on gas prices in the United States deterred multiple people from voting for the Republicans in the midterm elections. Trump agreed with Vance during a subsequent press conference, saying Vance’s post was “largely true,” but added that he would do it again if he had to. Many Republicans felt Hegseth was the obvious target for Trump to blame for the midterm loss, with one Republican telling CNN that Hegseth was allegedly “either dishonest or incorrect” about “timelines, goals and objectives since the beginning.”
Meanwhile, Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, told CNN that Hegseth “will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists.” Parnell added: “We will continue to drive President Trump’s agenda at the Department of War — despite threats of sham witch hunts from Democrats — and Secretary Hegseth is 100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump’s term in office.” As of the report, Hegseth had not officially commented on reports about a vote for his impeachment, nor had he responded to Massie’s calls for him to resign.
