By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a video message on Thursday vowing to fight efforts in Congress to impeach him and defending the Iran war as “courageous and historic” after voters punished Republicans over it in this week’s midterm elections.
Hegseth’s remarks, posted on social media, came as taunts from his foes in Congress intensified and President Donald Trump swatted away questions about whether he might fire Hegseth. Trump has commended his Pentagon chief.
The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, asked in a post: “Why is Pete Hegseth still around?”
Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has been a polarizing figure who has made enemies even within his own Republican Party. Critics in Congress are targeting his conduct of the Iran war, which Vice President JD Vance has said cost Republicans control of Congress, his firing of top military officers and strained relations with lawmakers as the administration seeks a $1.5 trillion defense spending package.
Democrats, who won control of Congress in Tuesday’s elections, have promised to investigate Hegseth and his handling of the Pentagon, and congressional aides say that would include the firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among other issues.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie promised to reintroduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth next week, warning that impeachment would be “much gentler” than what’s in store for him once Republicans cede control of Congress next year to Democrats.
“They’ll have hearings & trials,” Massie wrote on X.
Hegseth defended his stewardship of the Pentagon in a more than four-minute video that boasted about firing senior Pentagon leaders, ending diversity initiatives and banning transgender individuals from the military.
“You see, they attack me – they attack us – because we are effective. It’s not going to work. We will not back down,” Hegseth said to the camera.
Calling the impeachment effort a “sham,” Hegseth said that Trump himself was impeached twice.
“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. It didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that,” he said.
Trump on Thursday praised Hegseth when asked whether he expected any staffing changes, saying his defense secretary had “done a fantastic job” and suggesting that the opposition to him was tied to his firing of generals.
“We had so many generals. Everybody was a four-star general. I never saw anything like it. And many of those people were woke. I don’t like a woke general. And so, he probably has opposition,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump also praised Hegseth’s role in US military operations in Venezuela and Iran. “Venezuela has been unbelievable … and in Iran, we are there for seven months and we control everything that we’ve wanted to control,” he said.
CHOPPING BLOCK
Sources have said Trump could still replace Hegseth as Republicans assess their election losses.
On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance publicly questioned whether the Iran war was worth it and said it cost Republicans control of Congress, in extraordinary remarks that raised questions about whether Trump might still go ahead with a threatened resumption of major combat operations against Iran.
One Trump adviser said Hegseth “could be on the chopping block” because of the Iran war.
The Defense Department has said Hegseth is “100 percent committed” to leading the Pentagon until the end of Trump’s term.
Hegseth appealed to “patriotic” lawmakers to pass a funding request that aims to help the Pentagon pay for the Iran war and other spending priorities.
“Regardless of how people feel about the war, which I believe is a courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to continue, as President Trump did in his first term, to rebuild our military,” Hegseth said.
Republican US Senator Thom Tillis told CBS news on Tuesday night that Hegseth has “a reckoning” coming and his strained relationship with lawmakers was undermining the Trump administration’s push for a $1.5 trillion defense spending package in Congress.
Hegseth could also face scrutiny from Democrats over his Ukraine policy and US military strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats in Latin American waters, which some Democrats say could amount to war crimes.
Representative Adam Smith, the Democrat who is expected to lead the House Armed Services Committee next year, promised vigorous oversight on everything from the Iran war to what he called the erosion of the “apolitical foundation of the armed forces.”
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Don Durfee and Sanjeev Miglani)
