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Congressional Democrats aren’t eager to impeach Donald Trump. Pete Hegseth is a different story.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership circle remain reluctant to lean too far into talking about impeaching the president if they regain power next month, a move that would revive the bruising battles of Trump’s first term. But as the Iran war squeezes Republicans ahead of the midterms, Democrats are aligning to call for the defense secretary’s ouster or resignation.
With impeachment still a dirty word among many House Democrats, targeting Cabinet secretaries could be a pressure release valve for lawmakers itching for action against the Trump administration.
“I 100% believe Pete Hegseth needs to be impeached and removed from office, because not only is he the worst secretary of defense in American history, he is a dangerous war criminal,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., who said it should be one of the caucus’ “top three priorities” next year.
Hegseth was reviled by the left even before the Iran war began, and since then he’s faced criticism from Republicans for his handling of the war. An impeachment vote could even be bipartisan: When the House returns after the midterms, it’ll be forced to take up a Hegseth ouster resolution filed by iconoclastic Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Prioritizing Hegseth impeachment would solve a big problem for Democrats: If they win the House, their leaders will face intense pressure from the base to show a new level of fight against Trump. Yet they’re leery of the internal divisions or appearance of overreach that a third Trump impeachment might create, and still smarting from his return to office after two impeachment votes.
In public, top Democrats are accordingly circumspect on targeting Hegseth. Jeffries says Hegseth should be fired and that Democrats “haven’t ruled anything out” in their investigations. Democrats have filed impeachment articles against other Trump Cabinet officials, like Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., has also filed impeachment articles against Hegseth.
Yet interviews with a half dozen Democrats pointed to Hegseth as the safest place to land. It’s not just safe-seat Democrats willing to take the plunge: Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich., who represents a Trump-won district, said she was open to the possibility.
“If I were Pete Hegseth, I’d be worried. It’s certainly something that needs serious consideration, and I hear Democrats, yes, but I also hear some Republicans saying it as well. I think there’s a lot he needs to answer for,” she said.
Of course, it may not be even up to Democratic leaders in the end. Impeachment politics next year could be driven by an incoming crop of progressive lawmakers who could form a sizable bloc in the caucus. Any member can force a vote on an impeachment resolution, which outgoing Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, repeatedly triggered during Trump’s first term and his current one.
“Pete Hegseth should be impeached. Congress never voted for a war with Iran, and he’s been running one since February anyway. It’s cost innocent lives and more than $40 billion of our money,” said Melat Kiros, a Colorado progressive who is heavily favored to win election to the House in November.
Massie’s Hegseth resolution, among other allegations, lays out charges of violating Congress’ war powers and carrying out extrajudicial killings.
“They all should be impeached — President Trump and his cabinet that’s enabled him to do everything that he has right now,” said Adam Hamawy, a fellow Justice Democrats-aligned progressive from New Jersey. “Now, whether we’re going to be able to do that is another thing, but it’s not something that, you know, we should just ignore because it’s not possible.”
The Pentagon defended Hegseth’s record in a statement.
“Secretary Hegseth has slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation, and delivered for our warfighters every step of the way,” said Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson, adding that the Pentagon “is better under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership than before.”
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It’s unclear if Hegseth will leave the administration post-midterms. While Trump is known to be unpredictable, he likes Hegseth a lot, and those familiar with the situation are skeptical of any looming changes at the top of the department.
Still, other Democrats say they need to balance impeachment with acting on cost-of-living issues like healthcare that they believe will tip the midterms in their favor.
“There’s going to have to be a balance of addressing needs and meeting our constituents where they’re at, and also part of restoring the faith of the American people in our own government and restoring the integrity of our democratic institutions — it requires holding bad actors to justice,” said Rep. Analilia Mejia, D-N.J.
The Massie resolution will be a good test for Democratic support for going after Hegseth. Some Democrats are loath to support a measure drafted by a Republican and before any kind of investigative process has been completed.
But some leaders like Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Armed Services Committee Democrat, have signaled they could back the Massie measure.
The House has only ever impeached two Cabinet secretaries, with the most recent being the GOP-led impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024. The then-Democratic Senate voted to toss the articles of impeachment.
If Democrats take both the House and Senate next year, Hegseth could get a debilitating trial in the upper chamber.
Nicholas’s view
Taking on Hegseth is basically a free shot for Democrats. It allows them to demonstrate to the base that they could take action against the Trump administration without the risk of backlash that impeaching the president himself could bring.
But they’ll only be able to keep a lid on the prospect of impeaching Trump for so long. With many in the party pushing for investigations of potential malfeasance by the administration, party leaders will face tough choices about consequences if those probes do turn up wrongdoing.
And unlike 2018, when purple-district Democrats ran away from impeaching Trump, some are already embracing it. San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who’s running in a newly redrawn purple district, called recent comments by Trump about Iran’s ability to “take out” San Diego and Los Angeles an “impeachable offense.”
Shelby Talcott and David Weigel contributed to this report.
Notable
- Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee are weighing the creation of an oversight subpanel to probe Hegseth’s department, Politico reported.