Defense Secretary Hegseth Turns Impeachment Fight Into a Loyalist Spectacle
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted Rep. Thomas Massie’s impeachment articles as a self-serving, politically motivated stunt, while President Donald Trump rushed to praise Hegseth and lash out at the congressman.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth opened a Pentagon news briefing by condemning Rep. Thomas Massie’s articles of impeachment as “a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment.” He framed the effort not as oversight or accountability, but as the latest attempt by “one disgruntled and defeated congressman” to inflict political damage on the president, the country, and the troops.
“What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it’s not accountability,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth argued that the impeachment articles, which center on the ongoing Iran war and related operations, amount to little more than “policy disagreements” and should be fought out through legislation and debate rather than used as a weapon to remove officials from office. He defended the military actions, insisting they were lawful operations ordered by the commander-in-chief and carried out by “American warriors who did their jobs.”
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Hegseth “gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS” for his defense and attacked Massie as a “TOTAL LOSER.”
“Pete Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!” the president wrote.
The House is set to vote on a procedural motion to refer Massie’s resolution to committee or table it. If the articles advance, they would move to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is required for removal. Hegseth also repeated that the Iran conflict was “a necessary undertaking,” echoing comments from senior officials.
The briefing also featured attacks on the media, with Hegseth accusing reporters of hating the president more than caring about the country or its troops. No further details on the impeachment vote were provided.