Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called an impeachment effort led by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie a “farce” and described Massie as “disgruntled” after Massie lost his reelection bid in a Republican primary earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the House could vote as soon as Tuesday on whether to impeach Hegseth, which would make him just the third Cabinet member in U.S. history to be impeached by the House. If a majority of House members vote to impeach Hegseth, the Senate would then decide whether to convict him.
Conviction requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate, or 67 votes if all 100 senators vote.
Massie has accused Hegseth of abusing his authority by continuing the war against Iran and refusing to withdraw U.S. forces. He also accused Hegseth of disregarding a formal congressional resolution directing the United States to withdraw from hostilities.
Hegseth argued that this was a policy disagreement and not a "high crime or misdemeanor." He noted efforts to impeachment efforts against President Donald Trump during his first term.
"They impeached President Trump over a perfect phone call," he said. "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. Now they're trying a third time, this time against a member of his cabinet. They will fail again."
Massie announced his effort to impeach Hegseth in September and said a Democratic-controlled Congress would pursue impeachment if Democrats won control in November.
Trump defended Hegseth on Monday.
