Pete Hegseth vows to fight ‘farce’ impeachment push ahead of vote

The US defense secretary has described an attempt to impeach him as the “personal manifesto” of a “disgruntled” congressman, as members of Congress prepare to vote on the move as soon as today.

Pete Hegseth was defiant during a press conference at the Pentagon and predicted the effort to oust him would fail, the same way past impeachments of President Donald Trump did not lead to his conviction.

“What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it’s not accountability,” Mr Hegseth said.

The impeachment resolution was introduced to the House of Representatives by outgoing Republican congressman Thomas Massie on Monday, local time.

It accuses Mr Hegseth of abusing his powers in defiance of Congress, which legally has significant authority over declarations of war.

If the effort succeeds, it would make Mr Hegseth the first civilian military leader to be impeached in 150 years.

The charges should then move to the Senate for a possible trial, which could theoretically lead to Mr Hegseth’s removal, though the numbers in the Republican-controlled chamber make it unlikely.

“It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt, and everybody knows it,” Mr Hegseth said.

Republican leaders told House members a vote could take place as early as 5:30pm (9:30am AEDT), the New York Times reported.

But the House leaders could call a vote to send the resolution to a committee rather than calling a vote on the impeachment itself. They could also call a vote to “table” the resolution, effectively putting it aside indefinitely.

Democrats have indicated they will support the resolution.

It is unclear whether enough Republicans would join them for the resolution to pass the House, where there are 214 Democrats, 218 Republicans and one Republican-aligned independent.

But some US media reports suggest the votes could be shaping up in favour of the resolution.

Trump reiterates support

“We have seen this show before,” Mr Hegseth said, pointing to Mr Trump’s impeachments in 2019 and 2021.

“Both times he came back stronger and the American people sent him back to the White House,” he said.

“Now they’re trying a third time, this time against a member of his cabinet. They will fail again.”

Mr Trump has said he would continue to back Mr Hegseth even if he was impeached.

After the press conference, Mr Trump used social media to say:

The impeachment resolution accuses Mr Hegseth of “high crimes and misdemeanours”, including in relation to US operations in Iran, Venezuela and Yemen. Mr Hegseth said each of those was a “lawful operation ordered by the commander-in-chief”.

“For the first time in American history, a cabinet secretary overseeing America’s military is being attacked not for losing conflicts with our enemies, but for winning them,” Mr Hegseth said.

“Condemned not for defeat, but for military victory.”

If the impeachment attempt does not succeed, Democrats have signalled they will try again when the new Democrat-majority Congress begins in January.

Mr Massie, who has repeatedly clashed with Mr Trump, will not be part of that Congress.

He will be replaced by another Trump-backed Republican, Ed Gallerein, who defeated Mr Massie in a primary race earlier this year. Mr Hegseth campaigned for Mr Gallrein.

After introducing the resolution, Mr Massie said it was clear Mr Hegseth had acted unlawfully by defying Congress.

“One thing I want out of this is to litigate whether Congress has war powers or not,” he said on Monday.

“Someone has to put their foot down and say, ‘Are we going to follow the Constitution?’ The best way to do that is have an impeachment against Pete Hegseth.”

While impeachment only requires a simple majority in the House, Mr Hegseth’s removal from the defense secretary role would also require his conviction in the Senate.

That would take the support of two-thirds of present senators — a far less likely prospect, given 53 of the 100 sitting senators are Republican until Congress resets next year.