War Secretary Pete Hegseth went off on Tuesday about the “farce” impeachment attempt introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) this week.
Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth on the House Floor Monday, then held a press conference, arguing that Hegseth should be impeached for the Iran war, Venezuela, and attempting to punish Democratic lawmakers who told troops they should disobey orders.
Hegseth announced yesterday that he would hold a Pentagon press briefing to respond.
“I’ll get right to it. What one disgruntled and defeated Congressman is not oversight, and it’s not accountability. It’s a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment. Time for one man’s final days in Congress to try to do damage to this president, this country, and most irresponsibly, the warriors who defended,” Hegseth began before tearing into the “farce” impeachment for 15 minutes.
In the 250 years of our American republic, no Secretary of War or Secretary of Defense has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations, and in our case, successful ones at that. Not once. War Powers Resolution or not, not under Reagan in Lebanon, not under Clinton in Kosovo, not under Obama in Iraq and Syria, not under Biden in Iraq and Syria. That’s the standard. The history is clear, and it’s very straightforward,” he argued.
“And one disgruntled congressman wants to shred it over policy disagreements. That’s what it is: policy disagreements, not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the Impeachment Clause. The proper remedy for a policy disagreement, it’s legislation, it’s debate, it’s the next presidential election. It’s not handing the House and Senate floor to the Democrats so that they can run a show trial against the president and the Secretary of War while Republicans still control Congress and should be delivering wins for the American people.”
“They impeached President Trump over a perfect phone call. They impeached him again in his final week in office. Both times, they failed. Both times, he came back stronger, and the American people sent him back to the White House,” Hegseth said.
“Now they’re trying a third time, this time against a member of his cabinet. They will fail again, and if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I’ll take that company every day of the week.”
He further slammed Massie as a “single rogue legislator, loaded with personal animus for the president,” and accused him of putting “a target on the backs of American warriors by signaling that Congress will undermine their missions in real time.”
“You know, five years ago, America was humiliated in Kabul, Afghanistan, and every enemy on earth took notice. But somehow, as the president pointed out yesterday, no impeachment vote for Lloyd Austin for that terrible withdrawal, not even one vote, or no impeachment vote for when he went AWOL for over a week, no impeachment vote for when you let a Chinese spy balloon fly over the country for over a week,” he added.
Hegseth went on to defend his record as War Secretary of securing the Western Hemisphere against drug cartels, arresting Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, controlling the Panama Canal, holding NATO accountable, and record recruitment and troop retention.
He said the troops will be targeted next. “Make no mistake about what is happening. This is not about me. Politicians in Washington have accused the sailors and the pilots who struck narco terrorist boats of war crimes for doing their job; senators in cute videos have suggested the same. This resolution is the next step. Put the secretary on trial today, and the men and women who carried out those orders tomorrow,” he said.
“These resolutions are a farce. They mock the Constitution, they attack the chain of command, and they criminalize the war fighters who execute lawful orders.” (Read more: The Gateway Pundit, 11/10/2026)