President Donald Trump doubled down on his support of Pete Hegseth amid a Republican-led effort to impeach the embattled Defense Secretary as Congress returns Monday for a lame-duck session after the Democrats' sweeping victories in the midterms.
“He’s guilty of two things: basically winning two wars,” Trump said of Hegseth Sunday evening, praising U.S. military operations in Venezuela and Iran. “It’s awfully hard to say, ‘Let’s impeach somebody who did that.’”
The President’s remarks came after he said he still has confidence in Hegseth and referred to efforts of impeachment as "very unfair" during a sit-down interview with CBS' 60 Minutes.
Despite Trump’s continued defense of Hegseth, attempts to impeach the Defense Secretary come from within his own party, as Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is preparing to reintroduce a privileged resolution.
The measure includes eight articles of impeachment, accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973, citing the lack of congressional oversight on the conflict which Massie argues was “unlawful from its inception.” Another charge accuses Hegseth of “ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties.” Outside of the Iran war, the charges also allege the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader,” in reference to the U.S.’ capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in January—an act Massie says was carried out “without constitutional or legal authority.”
Massie's renewed push follows an earlier effort in September, when he sought to force a House vote on impeaching Hegseth. However, Speaker Mike Johnson recessed the House early, preventing the measure from reaching the floor.
On Monday, Massie said he's seen some members of the House say Hegseth “has been effective and they agree with the war, so they’ll vote not to impeach,” without naming any lawmakers in particular. “That’s not the question though. The question is whether he committed impeachable acts, and the answer is yes,” Massie argued.
If Massie re-files his articles of impeachment against Hegseth as privileged, it would mean the House must take up the issue within two legislative days. It’s unclear how this affect the five-week lame-duck session, as government funding runs out after Dec. 11 and lawmakers still need to make a deal to avert a government shutdown.
Hegseth has staunchly pushed back against the impeachment threat. In a video posted to social media, he accused his critics of pursuing a politically-motivated campaign against him.
“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, referring to the two impeachments of Trump during his first term as President. “It’s all about the politics of personal destruction–didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me,” he vowed.
In a statement to TIME Monday morning, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth “will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists.”
He said that the Defense Department has “followed the law and our Secretary will continue to stand and fight every single day to support and defend the Constitution, lead our troops, and protect America” and added that Hegseth is “100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump’s term in office.”
TIME has also reached out to the White House for comment.
Massie, who lost the Republican primary in May to a challenger endorsed by Trump, already has the support of a number of Democrats, including Hakeem Jeffries, who is widely expected to be the next House Speaker come January.
During an appearance on ABC's This Week Sunday, Jeffries said: “I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution.”
Accusing Hegseth of abusing his position, Jeffries continued. “The so-called Secretary of Defense has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe.”
Jeffries follows in the footsteps of Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat in the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who have also pledged to back Massie’s impeachment efforts.
The split over the Iran war
In the fallout of the midterm rout, the Republican Party appears to be split over the Iran war—and the extent of its impact on voters.
Vice President J.D. Vance said the day after the election that “the reason we lost is the war.” Trump, in his 60 Minutes interview that was filmed Friday and released Sunday, said he didn't disagree with Vance's analysis, but doubled down on the inception of the war. “The only thing I wish he would have said there, if he felt it, and you'd have to ask him about that, but, ‘If you had it to do again, would you do it?’” Trump said, before adding: “My answer is an emphatic 'yes.'”
The Iran war remains vastly unpopular with Americans. A midterm exit poll showed that 74% of voters thought the Iran war was a crucial or major factor when casting their ballot. The conflict is estimated to have cost American taxpayers around $47.1 billion so far. The financial fallout of the war has added to the cost-of-living pressures facing many Americans, with soaring diesel prices proving to be a key concern among voters.
Democrats, meanwhile, have long argued for more congressional overview regarding the Iran war. Some Republicans, including Massie and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, have also questioned the boundaries of the presidential war powers. In a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in July, Murkowski asked Hegseth why Congress hadn’t been asked for authorization. Hegseth, in response, acknowledged the “long-standing legal debate on this particular topic” but insisted that the Department of Defense shares “the position of the White House, that we have all the authorities necessary at this moment.”
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