WASHINGTON – Facing a looming impeachment vote in Congress, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth dug his heels in at a combative news conference on Nov. 10, the latest show of defiance in the face of persistent questions about his political future.
“What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight and it's not accountability. It's a political spectacle,” Hegseth said. “It’s a farce and it’s a stunt, and everybody knows it.”
Hegseth has sought to aggressively defend his record in the aftermath of the Republican Party’s midterm shellacking, which prompted some GOP lawmakers to call for his ouster. The House of Representatives is planning to vote on whether to move forward with impeaching Hegseth later on Nov. 10.
The rare news
conference, Hegseth’s first in more than six months, comes days after he vowed to fight the impeachment effort and vigorously defended the decision to go to war against Iran in a video address filmed outside the Pentagon. The White House’s official social media account also published a hype video to tout Hegseth’s perceived accomplishments.
The White House conceded that the devastating election night losses were caused in part by the Iran war and the ensuing spike in fuel prices, but President Donald Trump has repeatedly backed Hegseth in recent days and slammed the impeachment push led by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky.
“Pete Hegseth should be praised, not impeached,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Nov. 10. “Congress, stand up for Pete!!!”
Massie, an anti-war Republican and one of Trump’s top political opponents, is seeking to oust Hegseth for waging war in Iran without congressional approval, conducting lethal strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, and leading the operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
“We’re not indicting him for being bad at his job,” Massie said at a press conference on Nov. 9. “The argument here is that he’s broken laws and he's violated the Constitution.”
The Kentucky lawmaker will exit Congress in January after he lost the Republic primary to Rep.-elect Ed Gallrein, a Trump-backed candidate. Hegseth campaigned for Gallrein ahead of the primary election, but Massie has insisted that the impeachment effort is not motivated by revenge.
“One of the things that I really want out of this is to litigate whether Congress has war powers or not,” Massie said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pete Hegseth defends himself against impeachment: 'It's a farce'
