US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calls bid to impeach him over abuse of power in Iran war a farce
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says an impeachment push targeting him is about ‘policy disagreements,’ not high crimes.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called moves to impeach him over abuse of power in the Iran war a farce that will fail.
Hegseth made the comment at a news conference a day after US Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced eight articles of impeachment against him.
The resolution largely focuses on the war in Iran but also includes references to Hegseth’s role in military actions in Yemen against the Houthi rebels and in Venezuela.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“In the 250 years of our American republic, no Secretary of War or Secretary of Defense has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations,” Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday in his first Pentagon news conference since May.
Massie said Hegseth’s actions amount to “high crimes and misdemeanours” and his leadership at the Pentagon “warrants impeachment”.
What constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanours” is not spelled out in the US constitution, leaving it to lawmakers to decide what are impeachable acts.
Referring to the Iran war, Hegseth said: “I stand beside every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow.”
“There’s a lot of politically motivated people who may have substantial policy disagreements but their disagreements are with success,” Hegseth told reporters on Monday after a speech at the Naval War College in Rhode Island.
He added that “if we want to litigate” the military actions that the administration has taken, “I’m happy to do it all day long”.
In a post on X, Massie said the House would hold a first vote on Tuesday on a procedural motion to kill the resolution.
“If we can overcome that effort, we will proceed to a real debate and vote on the articles of impeachment,” Massie said.
Trump has backed Hegseth, pointing to the raid to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January as well as military operations against Iran that he said had “obliterated” its navy and air force.
with AP
