Washington: US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has issued a defiant response following strong public backing from President Donald Trump, as Capitol Hill braces for a high-stakes legislative showdown over an impeachment push led by outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie.
Taking to social media, Hegseth expressed gratitude for the President’s unwavering support, stating, “Thank you Mr. President. Like you, we will never back down.”
Earlier, Hegseth said he was not worried about the growing criticism surrounding a possible impeachment and announced that he would address the issue at a news conference at the Pentagon on Tuesday morning (local time).
“We’re not worried about the noise. This is what I told the troops, too. Don’t worry about the noise. There’s partisan noise all over our town. We’re focused on delivering the President’s agenda, which is the kind of funding our department needs in order to dominate the future, which we’re all concerned about,” he said.
The response comes after President Trump threw his full backing behind the embattled Secretary of War, asserting during a White House press briefing that the Pentagon chief had performed a “good job” during his tenure by “winning” two conflicts in Venezuela and Iran.
Defending his appointee, Trump stated, “Yeah, I’ll stand by him… He won two wars. He was in charge.”
The presidential endorsement followed closely on the impeachment initiative launched by Massie, who moved to impeach the Secretary of War over the war in Iran by introducing eight articles of impeachment. The articles accuse Hegseth of illegally waging war without congressional authorisation and abusing his powers as Pentagon chief.
Massie formally submitted the resolution as the House commenced its opening session following the midterm elections.
Addressing the developments during an appearance on CNN’s The Source alongside Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, Massie outlined the political dynamics shifting within the Republican Party regarding the impeachment push.
Highlighting the legislators who might break ranks following the electoral outcome, Massie stated, “I think there’s two categories of Republicans after Nov. 3rd who are more likely to vote to impeach Pete Hegseth. One, I call it the retirement caucus. These aren’t people who joined voluntarily. And the ranks of this caucus swelled for Republicans on November 3rd. What do they have to lose? But more importantly, you have a caucus of people who just barely won their election. They thought they had a political annuity, that they’d go to fancy dinners for the rest of their lives, and they barely won by 500 votes. They’re used to winning by 10,000, 15,000 votes. And those folks need to put some daylight between themselves and this administration, between themselves and this war.”
Discussing the articles of impeachment, Massie explained the procedural distinction governing congressional resolutions.
“If the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader are somehow able to push this into the next Congress, for every other bill and resolution, they expire at the end of this Congress. But for impeachments, they go into the next Congress. And so the Senate can’t run out the clock on this one,” he said.
Weighing in on the discussion during the broadcast, Ro Khanna underscored Massie’s principled stance on Capitol Hill, pointing out the personal and professional toll such positions often exact.
“Thomas literally gave up his career because he stood up on the war on Iran and on the Epstein files,” Khanna said.
Lashing out at his Republican colleague for tabling the resolution, Trump declared, “Massie is a loser. He shouldn’t be taking up the time of Congress.”
He further dismissed him, stating, “The guy’s a stone-cold loser.”
Massie, a critic of Donald Trump who lost his primary to a candidate backed by the President, stated on the House floor that Hegseth had “knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders” by waging war without congressional approval.
The articles cite alleged violations of the 1973 War Powers Resolution, alongside misconduct involving civilian casualties and military operations in Yemen and Venezuela.
Hegseth, a former Fox News weekend host and one of Trump’s handpicked appointments in his second term as US President, took charge of the Department of War despite lacking administrative experience commensurate with the post.
Despite controversies surrounding his tenure, Trump has maintained his support and repeatedly dismissed suggestions of dismissing him.
While bipartisan backing for impeachment has grown, House Speaker Mike Johnson, one of Trump’s staunch allies in Congress, has blocked previous initiatives. He contends that impeaching a Cabinet secretary amid active hostilities abroad would project a “terrible look” to both allies and adversaries.
When Massie initially sought to present the resolution as a privileged motion in September, Johnson countered by abruptly adjourning the House and dismissing representatives nearly seven weeks early for the midterms, successfully deferring the vote beyond Election Day.
Nevertheless, the midterm outcome fell short of Republican expectations, with Democrats poised to seize control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives by January 2027, heightening Hegseth’s political vulnerability.
Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries, projected to assume the speakership in January, stated on Sunday that he was a “hard yes” on impeachment during an appearance on ABC News.
“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,” Jeffries said.
“Pete Hegseth has got to go,” he added.
Brushing off the mounting political pressure, with a potential House vote anticipated as early as today, Hegseth dismissed the controversy and directed attention to his upcoming media engagement.
“Oh, we’re not worried about that. I’ll tell you this. Actually, I hope all of you will join us. We’re going to do a press conference tomorrow morning at the Pentagon on that very topic. So I’ll save my remarks there,” he said.
Emphasising his focus on administrative priorities amid the partisan backlash, he added, “We’re not worried about the noise. This is what I told the troops, too. Don’t worry about the noise. There’s partisan noise all over our town. We’re focused on delivering the President’s agenda, which is the kind of funding our department needs in order to dominate the future, which we’re all concerned about. So, we’ll see you tomorrow morning at the Pentagon.”
The political clash unfolds as members converge on Washington for a brief six-week lame-duck sprint aimed at advancing the Republican legislative agenda before GOP majorities conclude with the transfer of power on January 3, 2027.
Amid the intensifying congressional scrutiny, Trump previously informed reporters that he believed the conflict in Iran was “militarily effectively over”, adding, “We’re just keeping it the status quo.”
The President further observed that the Iranian leadership had been “decapitated”, though he indicated continuing efforts to secure a long-term framework ensuring the neutralisation of Iran’s nuclear programme.
His remarks represent some of his clearest signals yet of stepping back from earlier threats to renew military strikes following the Democratic victory in the US midterm elections.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
