Hegseth calls impeachment push against him 'sabotage'

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, November 10, pushed back hard at a Pentagon press briefing against efforts in Congress to impeach him. The resolution was filed in the House of Representatives on Monday by Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who lost his primary to a Trump-backed rival and is leaving office. The issue has gained weight after heavy Republican losses in last week's midterm elections, which many at least partly blamed on the war with Iran and its economic impact.

Hegseth's response

Hegseth said Massie is targeting him over policy disagreements rather than the kind of high crimes the nation's founders had in mind. In the 250 years of the American republic, he said, no secretary of war or defense has been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations. "This is not patriotism. This is sabotage," he said. It was his first briefing at the Pentagon since May, while the US military continues intermittent operations against Iran and fatal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in Latin America.

On Monday, after a speech at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, Hegseth said his critics' disagreements are "with success" and that he is happy to debate the military actions "all day long." Last week he posted a video on social media arguing that impeachment would be "all about the politics of personal destruction."

What the resolution covers and Trump's backing

The resolution focuses mainly on the war in Iran, but also refers to Hegseth's role in military actions in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and in Venezuela. Massie says the actions amount to "high crimes and misdemeanors."

President Donald Trump has backed Hegseth, pointing to the January raid that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and to operations against Iran that he says have "obliterated" its navy and air force. Iran, however, has kept striking US bases in the Middle East and has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the more than eight-month conflict, pushing up global oil prices.

Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth is "100% committed" to leading the department until the end of Trump's term.