US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to hold a rare news conference as he defends his record against House impeachment proceedings launched over his handling of the Iran conflict and executive authority.
WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will hold a rare news conference on Tuesday as he pushes back against congressional efforts to remove him from office for alleged misconduct.
Under pressure after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for the Republican Party’s sweeping losses in midterm elections, Hegseth now faces impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.
“There’s a lot of politically motivated people who…may have substantial policy disagreements, but their disagreements are with success,” Hegseth told reporters on Monday when asked about efforts to remove him.
“I couldn’t be more proud of what our president has done, the decisions that he’s made, the courageous calls that he’s made, the bold nature of our…military leadership, the skill and courage of the troops on the ground,” he said.
The impeachment efforts are being spearheaded by Representative Thomas Massie, an anti-Trump Republican lawmaker who is leaving office after losing a primary contest to a candidate backed by the president.
Several of the articles of impeachment — which Massie introduced on Monday — relate to the Iran war, accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional consultation on and oversight of US military interventions.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Massie accused Hegseth of using “our troops to go seize oil for large corporations in America” and derided the Trump administration’s refusal to acknowledge the bombing of a school in Iran.
“I mean, obviously we hit it, and you can determine what kind of missiles from the range and the kind of destruction there was. I don’t think they’re going to get out of that article of impeachment by saying, ‘Oh, we don’t know who bombed that school’ — although I think the president tried that for a day or two,” Massie said.
‘Sham’ impeachment
Hegseth is a staunch defender of the widely unpopular conflict in Iran, which he has described as a “courageous and historic effort.”
He has previously dismissed Massie’s “sham articles of impeachment” and equated the effort to remove him as Pentagon chief with past impeachments of Trump.
“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me,” Hegseth said in a video message last week.
Trump threw his support behind Hegseth on Monday, declaring he had done a “good job” and “won” wars in Venezuela and Iran — referring to the lightning raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January, and the unresolved eight-month conflict with Tehran.
Asked what would happen if Hegseth is impeached, Trump told reporters: “Yeah, I’ll stand by him.”
The 2025 conflict with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis features in Massie’s articles of impeachment, which charge Hegseth with starting the operation without congressional approval and in the absence of an imminent threat to the United States.
Massie also branded strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific as “extrajudicial killings” and said Hegseth “chilled independent legal review within the Department of Defense.”
And he accused Hegseth of suppressing free speech by trying to punish Democratic Senator Mark Kelly over a video in which he and other lawmakers urged military and intelligence personnel to refuse illegal orders.
“Using the powers of his office, Secretary Hegseth retaliated against and sought to intimidate United States Senator Mark Kelly for his statement,” one of the articles of impeachment said.
