Top House Democrat ‘a hard yes’ on impeaching Hegseth

New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a frontrunner to become the next House Speaker, has expressed his strong support for impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. During a recent appearance on ABC’s programme This Week, Jeffries stated that he is a "hard yes" when it comes to impeaching Hegseth. According to Jeffries, Hegseth has "abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran."

Jeffries is the favorite to assume the role of House Speaker once Democrats regain control of Congress in January, following their significant victory in the midterm elections. As the most powerful member of the lower chamber, Jeffries plans to serve as a check and balance against the Trump administration. However, he emphasized that the newly empowered Democrats are not currently focused on impeaching President Trump, who was impeached twice during his first term.

The Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who is known for his opposition to President Donald Trump, has announced his intention to introduce a resolution to impeach Hegseth as early as Monday. Massie's resolution contains eight articles of impeachment, which accuse Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973 for America's involvement in the war with Iran.

In response to Massie's impeachment effort, Hegseth released a nearly six-minute video urging Congress to approve the Pentagon's latest military budget request. In the video, Hegseth addressed the impeachment effort, referring to it as "phony investigations" and "political theatre disguised as power." He claimed that his policies "don't work" and that his opponents are driven by the politics of personal destruction, stating that such tactics "won't work against me."