The midterm elections are behind us. The political comeuppance for President Donald Trump's disastrous second term is just getting started.
The most tangible target – for both Democrats and Republicans
in Congress – is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth has been Trump's most unwavering cheerleader for his reckless and haphazard Iran war, which served as a central motivator for voters, who handed majority control of Congress to the Democratic Party.
Hegseth looks likely to face a forced impeachment vote in the U.S. House soon, via a resolution from U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, an outspoken Republican critic who recently advanced articles to accuse the Defense secretary of "operating in contravention of three specific provisions of the War Powers Resolution of 1973."
Impeachment accusations against Hegseth speak volumes
Massie's eight articles touch on not just Iran, but also accuse Hegseth of "ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties," "unauthorized lethal military targeting of suspected drug traffickers," "suppressing free speech" to retaliate against U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and retired Navy aviator who said military members don't have to follow illegal orders, "kidnapping" former Venezuela dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and "unlawful strikes" on the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Hegseth, whose focus has always been combative social media messaging and branding, responded on Nov. 5 with a nearly six-minute video chock-full of his standard hard-right, culture-war rhetorical slop that was clearly aimed at an audience of one, the president he mentioned nine times.
Hegseth praised the war in Iran as "a courageous and historic effort" and demanded that "every patriotic member of Congress" approve a $350 billion boost in funding for the Department of Defense. Hegseth also claimed his video about himself was "not about me," while knocking Massie's impeachment effort as "political theater."
Maybe so. But there is an audience of more than one gathering for this.
It's Republicans leading the charge against Hegseth
U.S. Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who has used his chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to advance Trump's efforts at retribution against perceived enemies, was asked in a Nov. 6 NewsNation interview if Trump should dump Hegseth. He didn't offer a ringing endorsement.
"I can tell you with a high level of confidence that there's a lot of questions about Hegseth," Comer said. "We have no idea what the strategy is moving forward on Iran. No one's happy about Iran."
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who has said he regrets voting to confirm Hegseth as Defense secretary, chided him in a Nov. 6 social media post for using taxpayer dollars to pay for his self-defense video. Tillis accused Hegseth of "incompetence" while noting that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also used federal funds for self-promotional videos.
That's a deft burn from Tillis, since Trump fired Noem in March as her scandals piled up at DHS and Congress pressed for details about her videos.
Will Trump stick with Hegseth? A White House social media account on Nov. 5 posted a brief Hegseth hype video that included audio of Trump saying his Defense secretary "has been unbelievable at what he's doing."
But praise from Trump means nothing if he thinks shoving someone out a door will help him. He lauded Noem for "spectacular results" while firing her. He also praised former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for doing "a good job" just before firing her in April.
Hegseth can be removed any number of ways. Now we wait
And shakeups are clearly on Trump's agenda. He ousted White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in a Nov. 6 social media post that said she had done "an outstanding job."
Imagine working at the White House office of human resources. You get a memo from the boss, praising an employee. And, right away, you have to start planning the off-boarding to have that employee escorted from the building.
Trump likes to keep his team jumpy and unsettled. One standard tactic: Trump calls outside advisers, polling them on the fate of a Cabinet member like Hegseth, Noem or Bondi. Then he lets that discussion trickle into the public discourse before taking a position that may or may not mean anything at all.
There was chatter Nov. 5 about a Hegseth escape hatch, an unlikely save from U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican who won her state's race for governor on Election Day and will now appoint her replacement in the Senate. Trump seemed open to the idea that Blackburn could give her seat to Hegseth.
But Blackburn's team effectively slammed the door on that idea.
Massie is bringing the threat to Hegseth. But he almost makes it sound merciful, noting in a Nov. 5 social media post that his push to oust the Defense secretary "is a much gentler version of what’s coming" when Democrats control Congress. That post warned of Democratic oversight, including "hearings & trials."
And that prospect, given Hegseth's brazen but brittle combativeness when faced with a branding crisis, may be enough for Trump to finally shove the Defense secretary from his post.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Chris Brennan on Bluesky, @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social, and on X, @ByChrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Resignation or impeachment? Hegseth's reckoning beckons | Opinion
