Hegseth Faces Impeachment Threat as Trump Weighs a Political Exit

Republican lawmakers are increasingly blaming the defense secretary for the war in Iran, while Thomas Massie vows to revive impeachment articles unless Hegseth resigns. A possible Senate seat in Tennessee could offer the president’s embattled ally a way out of the Pentagon

Pete Hegseth’s future at the Pentagon is becoming a test of how much political damage Donald Trump is willing to absorb to protect one of his closest allies. With Republicans increasingly questioning the defense secretary’s role in the Iran war, and Democrats strengthened by a sweeping midterm victory, the prospect of impeachment is returning to the center of the fight over his job.

Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who has broken with Trump, has issued a blunt ultimatum: Hegseth must resign or face another attempt to impeach him. “There is only one possible scenario in which I will not refile the articles of impeachment, and that is if Hegseth resigns,” Massie said.

The warning comes as Congress prepares to reconvene next week for the first time since Democrats’ decisive midterm gains. The outgoing House remains narrowly controlled by Republicans, but the party’s reduced political margin — compounded by dozens of members who lost their seats in Tuesday’s election — could make a vote on impeachment harder for Hegseth to survive.

Massie filed eight articles of impeachment against the defense secretary in September. The charges accused Hegseth of directing the war in Iran without congressional authorization, ordering the seizure of Nicolás Maduro without constitutional authority, and overseeing Pentagon strikes in the Caribbean that killed dozens of suspected drug traffickers in what Massie described as extrajudicial executions.

The effort never reached a House vote. Speaker Mike Johnson managed to keep the articles off the floor, prompting Massie and Democrats to accuse him of advancing the chamber’s adjournment for the election recess by a day to prevent a vote.

The political pressure on Hegseth is no longer coming only from Democrats or Republicans openly opposed to Trump. CNN reported that a growing number of GOP lawmakers blame the defense secretary for persuading the president to launch the Iran campaign without an exit strategy or a plan for managing its political consequences. That criticism raises the prospect that Hegseth could face opposition from within his own party if Massie forces the issue.

Trump, however, has continued to resist calls for Hegseth’s removal. The president has repeatedly denied reports that he is considering replacing the former Fox News host, whom he fought hard to install at the Pentagon even when his Senate confirmation appeared uncertain. But he acknowledged Thursday that he had received complaints about the defense secretary.

“I don’t understand why. I have no intention of removing him,” Trump told ABC News.

In the same interview, however, Trump volunteered that Hegseth would be “very popular as a senator from Tennessee.” The remark lent weight to reports that the administration and its allies are considering a political landing place for the defense secretary if his position at the Pentagon becomes untenable.

The opening could come in January, when Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn leaves her seat after winning election as Tennessee governor. Blackburn herself could appoint Hegseth to fill the vacancy, giving him a route out of the Pentagon without a public dismissal. The Hill, citing sources, reported that Hegseth has shown interest in representing the state, where he has lived since buying a home in Goodlettsville, near Nashville, in 2022.

Hegseth is originally from Minnesota, where he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the Senate in 2012.

For now, Trump appears to want him to stay and fight. CNN reported that the president has urged Hegseth to resist impeachment efforts and other investigations into his conduct. As recently as two days ago, Trump reportedly told him: “You’re the best person I have.”

The president’s calculations may also be tied to the future of the Iran campaign. Before the midterms, a resumption of U.S. strikes appeared increasingly likely. The scale of the Democratic victory, along with Vice President JD Vance’s identification of the Iran war as the main cause of the Republican electoral defeat, has made a renewed offensive less certain.

Keeping Hegseth at the Pentagon could matter if Trump decides to resume the attacks. The defense secretary has been among the most forceful advocates of the campaign and of the “death and destruction” inflicted by the strikes. But the political cost of continuing the war — and of keeping Hegseth in charge of it — has become harder for the White House to ignore.

https://www.adnkronos.com/resources/02ab-21ffe6113848-706f4cbdb531-1000/format/big/hegseth_ipa_fg.jpeg