Impeachment vote for U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth looms amid calls to hold him accountable for Iran war; rebuttal press conference set for the 10th local time

[Financial News] In the immediate aftermath of the U.S. midterm elections, which ended in a crushing defeat for the ruling Republican Party, the House of Representatives is roiling as it prepares to vote on an impeachment resolution against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. With constitutional questions surrounding the launch of the Iran war and other actions being cited as a key cause of the midterm defeat, some believe the resolution could pass if enough Republicans defect.

On the 9th local time, as soon as Congress reconvened after its midterm election recess, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, one of the Republican Party’s most prominent anti-Trump voices, reintroduced an impeachment resolution against Hegseth. It came more than two months after a vote on his previous resolution was derailed when House Speaker Mike Johnson declared a recess shortly after it was introduced last September.
The resolution is being brought under a 'priority consideration' procedure that requires a vote by the full House within two days, so the vote is expected to take place by the 11th local time at the latest.
Massie listed eight articles of impeachment. The central charge is the unconstitutional act of starting the Iran war without congressional approval. He also took issue with allegations including the illegal abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation in Venezuela, the deaths of around 100 schoolgirls caused by misinformation during the Iran airstrikes, and the inhumane killing of civilians in the Caribbean under the pretext of eliminating drug cartels.

A simple majority is needed for the impeachment resolution to pass the House. The Republican Party currently holds a narrow majority, with 218 seats to the Democrats’ 214, but criticism within the party is growing that the Iran war caused its crushing election defeat. The prevailing view is that enough Republicans could defect to pass the resolution.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer noted, "Republican voters are angrier about the war than Democratic voters are. No one is satisfied with the Iran issue." Vice President JD Vance also voiced his discontent bluntly on social media, saying, "We lost because of the war." Some Republicans, including Rep. French Hill, took a more cautious stance, saying, "We need to examine whether failing to do a good job as secretary constitutes a high crime warranting impeachment." The Democrats are expected to vote unanimously in favor, with no defections.

Facing the threat of impeachment, Hegseth will make a public counteroffensive at a press conference at the Pentagon on the morning of the 10th, Eastern time. It will be his first press conference since May, six months ago.
The previous day, he told reporters in Newport, Rhode Island, "Someone had to take bold action to stop the Iranian regime from developing nuclear weapons," making the case for the war’s legitimacy. He then dismissed the impeachment effort as "noise that takes issue with the military and the historic achievements it has made" and strongly denied the allegations.
President Donald Trump also came to Hegseth’s defense in a surprise press conference at the White House the same day. Trump asked rhetorically, "He has won two wars. What on earth did he do wrong?" and said, "Active-duty service members and patriots love him. I will support him to the very end, even if he is impeached." He also fiercely denounced Massie, who introduced the resolution, calling him a "loser."
If the resolution passes the House, Hegseth will become the third Cabinet official in U.S. history to be impeached, a distinction that would bring him before an impeachment trial in the Senate, where a two-thirds vote or more in favor would result in his removal.


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