Hegseth Calls Impeachment Effort a ‘Farce’ and ‘Sabotage’ as House Prepares First Vote

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday called the effort to impeach him a “farce” and a “stunt,” using his first Pentagon news conference since May to answer eight articles of impeachment filed a day earlier by Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican.

“This is not patriotism. This is sabotage,” Hegseth said, according to Reuters. He said the articles rest on policy disagreements rather than the kind of offenses the Constitution sets out for impeachment, and he defended the military operations at the center of the charges. “I stand beside every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow,” he said.

The House was set to take up a procedural motion on Massie’s resolution at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the schedule set by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Massie said in a post on X that the House would hold a first vote on a motion to kill the resolution, and that if that effort failed, the House would move to debate and vote on the articles themselves.

What the articles charge

Massie introduced the articles on Monday, November 9, on the first day of Congress’s lame-duck session. The eight articles accuse Hegseth of abusing his power, including alleged violations of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, failure to minimize civilian casualties, extrajudicial killings and suppression of free speech, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. Massie pointed to military strikes in Yemen, the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid and the use of a Pentagon investigation to retaliate against Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona.

Massie brought the resolution as a question of the privileges of the House, a step that forces the House to act within two legislative days. By November 12, the House must vote to table the resolution, vote to impeach or send it to committee. If the House impeaches, the Senate holds a trial, and removal requires a two-thirds vote there. In the nation’s history, only one cabinet member has been impeached: Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.

A narrow margin and a divided party

Republicans hold a 218-214 majority in the House, so only a few defections could carry the articles if Democrats vote together. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has called himself a “hard yes” on the effort. Massie, who lost his Republican primary this year, said other outgoing members might be willing to vote yes and face the president’s anger on their way out of office.

President Donald Trump has stood behind Hegseth. On Truth Social on Monday, Trump gave Hegseth an “A PLUS, PLUS, PLUS” for his defense against Massie, whom he called a “total loser,” and he called Hegseth the “most popular and successful military official in the Country.” Hegseth also used the news conference to press Congress to pass the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request.

Massie reintroduced the articles on Monday after a first attempt in September, when Republican leaders sent Congress home in a move Massie said was meant to avoid a vote.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters, the Louisville Courier Journal and The Wall Street Journal.