WASHINGTON – Democrats vowed intense oversight of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and some may try to impeach him in the coming days, suggesting he could be the first casualty of Republicans' historic midterm losses.
Hegseth, the public face of President Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular war in the Middle East, became a primary target for Democrats on the campaign trail who fiercely criticized his management of the military and highlighted a string of scandals that defined his tenure.
Incoming House Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith, D-Washington, has pledged to investigate Hegseth, probing the Trump administration’s war in Iran, the Pentagon’s purge of high-ranking military officers and the use of a commercial messaging app to discuss a sensitive
military operation.
Hegseth is already facing pressure from some members of his own political party. Some Republican lawmakers are calling for his ouster during the lame-duck session before Democrats take control of Congress in January.
“Pete Hegseth has a reckoning,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, told CBS News on Nov. 4.
“He is one of the reasons why we don’t have the funding or guarantee for defense that we need,” Tillis added. “After the election, we need to determine whether or not he’s the best person to bring those needs to Congress.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, has also pledged to impeach Hegseth when lawmakers return to Congress next week. Massie has accused Hegseth of violating the Constitution by continuing the war in Iran without congressional approval.
“Trump should fire Hegseth to avoid Hegseth’s impeachment,” Massie wrote on social media. “It’s the honorable thing to do.”
Trump has insisted that he does not intend to remove Hegseth, telling reporters on Nov. 4 that he thinks the Pentagon chief is “doing a very good job.” He has also previously criticized efforts to impeach Hegseth.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that Trump “has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth” and praised the “incredible results” of the Iran war and the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Hegseth could also decide to leave the Pentagon on his own accord to avoid congressional scrutiny and Massie’s impeachment effort.
Hegseth is “100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump’s term in office,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement on Nov. 4.
“Secretary Hegseth will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists,” he said.
The White House has blamed the Iran war for the Republican Party’s devastating midterm defeat. Trump has specifically blamed high fuel prices caused by the war, but the president said he did not regret his decision to attack Iran.
Vice President JD Vance was more direct in casting blame on the war, attributing the Republican wipeout to eight months of fighting in the Middle East in a thinly veiled critique of the Trump administration’s military policy.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote on social media. “The president himself said so last night.”
“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay,” he added. “Agree or disagree, that's at least honest.”
Trump has tasked Vance with leading diplomatic negotiations to achieve a peaceful resolution to the war even as the president repeatedly threatened to restart major military operations against Iran after the midterm elections. Vance said on Nov. 2 that the United States has not set a deadline for Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear program and end the war.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What's next for Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth as Democrats eye return to power
