Democrats eye impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if midterms go their way: report
House Democrats are preparing a possible impeachment push against Pete Hegseth after the midterm elections, while Republican Rep. Thomas Massie plans to force a vote of his own in November, the Wall Street Journal reported.
By Daily Newz Desk Staff ·
Democrats in the US House of Representatives are laying the groundwork to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and could launch the process if the party emerges from the upcoming midterm elections in a strong position, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries signaled the party's intentions while speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month. "One of the first things we're going to do in the majority, we're going to run Pete Hegseth out of town," Jeffries said, according to the report.
Other Democratic lawmakers have been similarly blunt about the defense secretary. Rep. Pramila Jayapal described Hegseth as "incompetent and, frankly, corrupt" during a CNN interview, the Journal noted, while Rep. Jared Huffman called him an "unhinged fanatic who should be impeached and removed from office."
The pressure on Hegseth is not coming from Democrats alone. In September, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, an outspoken critic of the war on Iran and of American aid to Israel, filed articles of impeachment against the defense secretary. Massie accused Hegseth of abusing his office by executing an order for hostilities against Iran without approval from Congress.
Massie has said he intends to force an impeachment vote shortly after the House returns to session on Nov. 9, the week after the elections, according to the Journal.
The impeachment talk in Washington comes as Hegseth's movements overseas draw scrutiny. The defense secretary held a covert meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Israel's Ovda air base on Monday, days before Israel's election, two sources confirmed to Walla on Tuesday.
Reuters reported that Hegseth confirmed the visit took place, but he would not elaborate on the details of his conversation with Netanyahu. According to a KAN News report on Tuesday, the main topic of discussion at the meeting was Iran.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly attended the sit-down. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and other senior Israeli officials were not invited, for confidentiality reasons.
Ariella Roitman, Amichai Stein, and Idan Kweller contributed to the original report.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
