Impeachment Live Updates: House to Read Accusations Against Hegseth

Add The New York Times as a preferred source on Google Agrega The New York Times como fuente preferida en Google Latest Pinned Updated Here’s the latest. The House is set Tuesday to take its first action on the effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, holding a procedural vote that Republican leaders could use to shelve or kill the bid to charge him with high crimes.

The articles of impeachment will be read aloud on the House floor before lawmakers cast their votes. The eight articles of impeachment , brought by Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, accuse the defense secretary of violating the Constitution in his conduct of the Iran war and other actions.

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have vigorously defended Mr. Hegseth, who called the impeachment effort “a political spectacle” earlier Tuesday. Democrats are expected to support removing him from office, and there may be enough Republicans willing to consider the charges to pave the way for a final vote.

But first, House Republican leaders are expected to move to bottle up the articles in a committee, or to kill them outright. The charges involve Iran and other operations, including the lethal strikes on boats the administration says were smuggling drugs, which the resolution refers to as “extrajudicial killings.” They also accuse Mr.

Hegseth of disregarding laws intended to minimize civilian casualties and abusing his power by retaliating against a senator for public statements. Mr. Hegseth said claims that the American military had targeted civilians were “slander” and called the impeachment attempt an attack on service members.

He called Mr. Massie, who lost his primary this year to a Trump-backed challenger, “one disgruntled guy” accusing him of wrongdoing. But several Republicans have criticized Mr.

Hegseth and suggested he should go. On Monday, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said that the secretary was “running out of road” and that if he did not resign or face dismissal, it was “extremely likely, if not certain” that he would be impeached. Only a handful of Republican defections or absences could allow the charges to advance to the Senate for trial.

Although Republican leaders could delay sending them to the Senate, Democrats would be able to take up the articles when they assume power in January. The Constitution requires two-thirds of the Senate — a difficult target — to vote to convict and remove an official from office. Still, impeachments of cabinet-level officials are rare, and a House vote to charge him would be undercut him, demonstrating bipartisan opposition to him in Congress.

The Defense Department’s requested budget, a record $1.5 trillion, is still pending, with lawmakers pointing to Mr. Hegseth as among the reasons it has not been approved. Here’s what else to know: The charges: The eight articles of impeachment filed against Mr.

Hegseth say that he violated the Constitution and abused his power. Read more › Trump’s view: Mr. Trump continued to stand by his defense secretary on Tuesday, and graded his remarks an “‘A’ PLUS PLUS PLUS” while calling Mr.

Massie a “TOTAL LOSER!” He previously called Mr. Hegseth “perhaps the most popular and successful military official in the Country” and urged Congress to “stand up for Pete!!!” Read more › Thomas Massie: The Kentucky Republican who filed the impeachment charges has been a thorn in Mr.

Trump’s side . Mr. Massie lost to a primary challenger backed by the president earlier this year.

Read more › When they return from a break, the House is set to take the next steps toward voting on the resolution to impeach Secretary Pete Hegseth. While the final vote is not expected to take place today, a number of procedural steps will begin, including a full reading of the eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth and a challenge by Republican leaders to attempt to block the effort.

Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, introduced the resolution under rules that require its expedited consideration, setting up a final vote as soon as Wednesday. Here are takeaways from Hegseth’s remarks on the articles on impeachment against him. Image Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaking during a news conference on Tuesday at the Pentagon, where he had not addressed reporters since May.

Credit... Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images In a half-hour of remarks from the Pentagon press room, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday repeatedly attacked the motives of Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, for introducing eight articles of impeachment against him.

He did not address Mr. Massie’s main argument: that he had taken U.S. military forces to war illegally by ignoring the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which limits the president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad without consent from Congress. A preliminary vote on the articles of impeachment is expected Tuesday evening.

Mr. Hegseth had not addressed reporters at the Pentagon since May. Here are five takeaways from his on-camera appearance.

Mr. Hegseth said the impeachment push amounted to an attack on U.S. troops. Mr.

Hegseth said that an attack on him constitutes an attack on the military personnel who carried out his orders. Mr. Massie’s actions, he said, put “a target on the backs of American warriors by signaling that Congress will undermine their missions in real time.” “This is not patriotism,” he added.

“This is sabotage.” “Put the secretary on trial today, and the men and women who carried out those orders tomorrow,” Mr. Hegseth said. He compared his plight to the impeachment trials of President Trump.

Mr. Hegseth predicted that supporters of impeachment would fail, just as they twice failed to convict President Trump after impeaching him. “They will fail again, and if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I’ll take that company every day of the week,” Mr.

Hegseth said. Mr. Hegseth insisted that he had been carrying out lawful orders.

Mr. Hegseth repeatedly insisted that he had simply been following orders from the president in the military actions he has overseen. “Every one” of the military operations and attacks he launched, the defense secretary said, “was a lawful operation ordered by the commander in chief, then ordered by myself, notified to Congress and executed by American warriors who did their jobs.” “These are not high crimes,” he said.

“This is the job.” Ultimately, however, Congress will decide whether the secretary’s actions violated the Constitution and federal laws. Mr. Massie’s articles sketch out a broad range of accusations along those lines, mostly focusing on times Mr.

Hegseth has carried out offensive military action without the express permission of Congress. The congressman cited Mr. Hegseth’s air campaign against the Houthis in Yemen that killed at least 208 civilians , airstrikes on dozens of boats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea that have killed 244 civilians, and the war with Iran as being legally problematic.

He distorted history to defend his actions. “In the 250 years of our American republic, no secretary of war or secretary of defense has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations,” Mr. Hegseth said at the beginning of his remarks.

However, one of Mr. Hegseth’s predecessors, William Belknap, was impeached in 1876 , even though he resigned before the scheduled vote. Mr.

Hegseth cited examples of military actions that did not result in impeachment proceedings, including President Ronald Reagan’s decision to send troops to Lebanon. But Mr. Reagan received congressional authorization in 1983 to do so.

Mr. Hegseth also cited President Barack Obama’s and President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s strikes on Iraq and Syria, which were both carried out under the authorization for use of military force against Al Qaeda passed by Congress after the Sept.

11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr. Trump repealed that authorization in December, months before launching the Iran war alongside Israel on Feb.

28. He continued to use a discarded Republican slogan as justification for his actions. Mr.

Hegseth repeated his refrain that what he is doing is “peace through strength” — a slogan used by Senator Barry Goldwater, Republican of Arizona, during his 1964 run for the presidency and popularized by Mr. Reagan in the 1980s. “Peace through strength,” Mr.

Hegseth said on Tuesday morning. “Not as a slogan, but as a way of war.” However, even as a candidate for office, Mr. Reagan said : “We have heard the phrase ‘peace through strength’ so often, its meaning has become blurred through overuse.” A newly elected member of Congress who was pushed out by Hegseth supports his ouster.

Image Representative-elect Nancy Lacore at the Capitol on Sunday. Credit... Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral who won a seat in Congress last week after being fired by Pete Hegseth, has lent her support to lawmakers attempting to impeach the defense secretary, saying that he had committed “probably plenty” of offenses to warrant his ouster.

“Pete Hegseth is the most unqualified secretary that this nation has seen,” Ms. Lacore, a Democrat who flipped the South Carolina seat held by Representative Nancy Mace, said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “He has caused significant damage to us as a country and put us at risk, and really damaged the readiness of our entire military force.” When asked which of the accusations against Mr.

Hegseth warranted impeachment, Ms. Lacore said, “There’s probably plenty” and expressed confidence that the lawmakers pursuing the charges, led by outgoing Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, would be successful. “I do believe that this will be handled before I get there,” she added.

She takes office in January. Mr. Hegseth ousted Ms.

Lacore from her role as the chief of the Navy reserve last year, along with a number of other senior military officials. She made her comments a day before Mr. Massie formally introduced eight articles of impeachment against Mr.

Hegseth, accusing him of illegally starting wars in Iran and Yemen, carrying out extrajudicial killings with military strikes against drug traffickers, and unlawfully capturing Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolás Maduro, among other charges. In her “Face the Nation” interview, Ms. Lacore listed the Iran war and the Venezuela operation among what she considered to be Mr.

Hegseth’s more impeachable offenses. On Tuesday morning, Mr. Hegseth rejected the charges as “slander” and an attack on the troops.

The House could vote on them as soon as Tuesday evening. The eight articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth, explained. Image Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cast the articles of impeachment filed by Representative Thomas Massie as a slanderous effort by a “disgruntled and defeated congressman.” Credit...

Alex Kent/The New York Times Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faces eight articles of impeachment introduced by Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky. They accuse him of violating federal law and the Constitution through military operations against Iran, Venezuela and Yemen, the killing of civilians and retaliation against a sitting U.S. senator.

Three of the charges center on the war with Iran, which Mr. Massie argues was unlawful from the start. The remaining articles focus on decisions Mr.

Hegseth has made in overseeing the Pentagon, including his rollback of civilian-casualty protections and military strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Pacific and Caribbean. “We’re not indicting him for being bad at his jobs,” Mr. Massie said during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Monday after he read his resolution on the House floor.

“In fact, he was very effective at killing schoolchildren in Iran. The argument here is that he has broken laws and he’s violated the Constitution.” Mr. Hegseth held a news conference on Tuesday morning in which he cast the articles as a slanderous effort by a “disgruntled and defeated congressman,” and the Pentagon has said that he “will not back down or be deterred.” President Trump defended Mr.

Hegseth on Sunday, saying, “He’s guilty of two things, basically winning two wars.” Here is a closer look at the charges, with excerpts from each. Article I: Starting the war with Iran without congressional authorization Secretary Hegseth knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders to initiate war against a foreign nation notwithstanding the absence of congressional authorization, an attack upon the United States giving rise to the national emergency contemplated by law, or an imminent threat requiring immediate defensive action, thereby substituting unlawful Executive action for the constitutional and statutory judgment of Congress.

The first charge invokes the War Powers Resolution of 1973 , which was enacted over a veto and limits the president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad without consent from Congress. It asserts that the war, which began on Feb. 28 when American forces launched joint strikes with Israel against Iran, was illegal from the beginning because it did not satisfy any of the conditions laid out in the statute for authorizing a conflict.

Those include a declaration of war, congressional approval for the use of military force or an attack on the United States. The resolution refers to the March 17 resignation of Joe Kent , who at the time served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center and said Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States.

The administration has maintained that the president has the constitutional authority under his powers as commander in chief to conduct the military campaign without any action by Congress. Article II: Defying Congress’s vote to end the Iran War Secretary Hegseth carried out unlawful orders, and continues to do so, in contravention of Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, section 1544(c) of title 50, United States Code.

The House voted on June 3 to direct the withdrawal of American forces from unauthorized hostilities in Iran. On June 23, the Senate approved the same measure, a concurrent resolution that on its own did not have the force of law but was a clear statement of congressional opposition to continuing the conflict.

Mr. Massie argues that the votes satisfied a provision in the War Powers Resolution that requires the withdrawal of American troops if Congress passes a concurrent resolution directing it. By ignoring the measure, Mr.

Massie says, Mr. Hegseth acted “in contravention” of the war powers law. “The law is on the book,” he said on Monday.

“Pete Hegseth is obligated to follow the laws on the books, not the laws that he wants to follow.” There is legal uncertainty about such a charge. A 1983 Supreme Court ruling, I.N.S. v. Chadha, casts doubt on congressional mechanisms that attempt to bind the executive branch without presenting legislation to the president for his signature, which concurrent resolutions do not require.

Article III: Continuing the Iran war beyond a legal deadline Directing the Department of Defense to treat the mandatory termination requirement as discretionary. The third article centers on a 60-day deadline in the war powers law that determines when military action that was not authorized by Congress must end.

The statute allows an additional 30 days under limited circumstances if needed to facilitate the safe withdrawal of American forces. Mr. Trump and his administration ignored both deadlines, arguing that they were not bound by the law.

The president and his advisers have at various points claimed that the war was over, including in May, around the 60-day mark, when they declared Operation Epic Fury, the original mission, “concluded” amid a cease-fire, and then classified subsequent attacks as a separate military operation.

“The war was never over,” Mr. Massie said. “There was never a legitimate stop to the war.” Article IV: Sidestepping laws to prevent civilian deaths By directing the Department of Defense in a manner that foreseeably dismantled the safeguards necessary to distinguish civilian objects from military objectives, Secretary Hegseth thereby effected the murder of civilians and abused the trust of the men and women under his command by requiring them to conduct military operations within a targeting and legal-review system that he had deliberately degraded.

The article charges Mr. Hegseth with disregarding congressionally mandated safeguards against civilian deaths and casualties, including by gutting funding for the Army database that tracks them, eliminating a majority of the staff overseeing civilian harm mitigation and firing military lawyers across several branches.

It seeks to tie those moves to the bombing of the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, Iran , on the opening day of the war, which Iranian officials have said killed at least 175 people, most of them children. The resolution quotes Mr. Hegseth’s remarks during a news conference he held days after the war began when he said there would be no “stupid rules of engagement” in the conflict.

It also refers to a statement by the secretary last year boasting of a force focused on “ maximum lethality, not tepid legality .” Article V: Conducting extrajudicial drug boat killings Secretary Hegseth arrogated to himself and the Executive Branch the roles of judge, jury, and executioner and asserted a unilateral power to determine who may live and who may die.

This article challenges the administration’s strikes against boats suspected of trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, which began in September 2025. It accuses Mr. Hegseth of positioning himself as an “executioner” who directed the extrajudicial killings of at least 221 people over the course of more than 60 strikes.

The article singles out a Sept. 2 attack in which American forces launched a so-called “double tap” strike that killed two survivors clinging to wreckage from an initial strike , calling it “contrary to United States law and customary international law.” The administration has defended the operations as necessary to fight dangerous trafficking organizations, but the resolution declares that the campaign exceeded the Pentagon’s legal authority and endangered American service members by encouraging adversaries to disregard protections for survivors.

Article VI: Targeting Senator Mark Kelly Using the powers of his office, Secretary Hegseth retaliated against and sought to intimidate United States Senator Mark Kelly for his statement through a scheme or course of conduct intended to interfere with Congress’ constitutional authority to oversee the Executive Branch.

The sixth charge concerns Mr. Hegseth’s response to a November 2025 video in which Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and a group of other Democratic lawmakers informed troops that they could refuse illegal orders. After Mr.

Trump accused Mr. Kelly, a retired Navy captain, of sedition and called for him to be hanged for the remarks, Mr. Hegseth echoed the rebukes, censured the senator and initiated a disciplinary procedure that could result in the reduction of his military rank and pension.

Mr. Kelly sued Mr. Hegseth , accusing the defense secretary of violating his free speech rights, and a federal judge agreed and blocked the punishment , though the Justice Department has appealed the ruling.

The resolution calls the actions against Mr. Kelly retaliation against protected speech and a public campaign to intimidate a sitting member of Congress. Article VII: Kidnapping a foreign leader An act of war against a sovereign country executed under the guise of narcotics law enforcement This article addresses the Jan.

3 military operation that captured President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores . The operation involved more than 150 aircraft and drones and hundreds of American military personnel . The Trump administration has repeatedly said that the mission was a law enforcement operation tied to federal indictments, but the impeachment charge calls it an unauthorized “act of war against a sovereign country executed under the guise of narcotics law enforcement.” Article VIII: Starting an unauthorized war in Yemen Secretary Hegseth initiated and directed Operation Rough Rider without Congressional authority The final article challenges the administration’s military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen , carried out in the spring of 2025, saying that it, too, was an unauthorized operation launched without congressional approval or an imminent threat to the United States.

The campaign was intended to stop attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. It became associated with an early scandal for Mr. Hegseth, in which he and other senior administration officials discussed the planned military strikes in a group chat that inadvertently included a journalist .

Here’s what to know about Thomas Massie, the congressman leading the impeachment drive. Image Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, at the Capitol in September. Credit...

Kenny Holston/The New York Times Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican whose libertarian leanings and independent streak have made him a target of President Trump’s, has brought impeachment charges against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It could be one of his last major acts in Congress: The 55-year-old Mr.

Massie, a seven-term representative, is retiring at the end of his term after losing a primary to a challenger backed by the president. Mr. Hegseth on Tuesday dismissed the impeachment drive as a vendetta by “one disgruntled and defeated congressman,” without naming Mr.

Massie. Mr. Trump chimed in soon afterward, denigrating Mr.

Massie in a social media post as “a TOTAL LOSER.” Here’s what to know about Mr. Massie: He was defeated in a primary in May. Mr.

Massie lost by about 10 percentage points to Ed Gallrein, a farmer supported by Mr. Trump. After losing, he filed a statement of candidacy allowing him to raise money for a potential run for office in 2028, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Then he went on vacation in Costa Rica with former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, another Trump antagonist from the Republican Party. He is an outspoken critic of the Iran war. Mr.

Massie has assailed the war since its first hours . He has accused the Trump administration of violating the Constitution by striking Iran without congressional approval and of breaking with Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign platform.

By early March, he had joined one other House Republican in supporting a doomed measure to force the president to go to Congress for authorization for the war. Mr. Massie himself sponsored the measure.

“I feel confident that I’ve got the constitutional position right,” Mr. Massie said in an interview a week into the war. “And I’m hopeful that the politics will follow later.” He has expressed pride in bucking the president.

Mr. Massie predicted before his primary that if he won, more Republicans would be willing to go against the grain. He joked about writing a song titled, “I’ll still win, but if I lose, it was worth it.” After he lost, he cast his defeat as a success of sorts, telling The Cincinnati Enquirer that his opponents had “bought a congressional seat.” He was also at odds with Mr.

Trump over the Epstein files. Mr. Massie led the charge among congressional Republicans to release files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein earlier in Mr.

Trump’s second term. The push prevailed , over the objections of the White House. “If they’re bankrupting the country or covering up for pedophiles or starting another war or spying on you without a warrant, I’m sorry, that’s when I deviate from the party,” Mr.

Massie said this spring. He had overcome previous challenges. Mr.

Massie has been jawing at Mr. Trump for years. Mr.

Trump also opposed the congressman in his primary in 2020 — denouncing him as a “third rate Grandstander” — after Mr. Massie opposed a Covid-19 relief bill. That time around, Mr.

Massie beat his primary opponent by more than 60 percentage points. “I got the Trump antibodies in that election,” Mr. Massie said in early March.

“But they may be waning.” Each time he was up for re-election before this year, he won with at least 60 percent of the vote in the general election. But this spring was different. He lives on an off-the-grid farm.

Mr. Massie, who was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spends his days away from Washington in a solar-powered house on a remote farm in Garrison, Ky. (Population: 552.) It’s in a region of rolling hills dotted with grazing horses. Mr.

Massie has a penchant for drinking raw milk and registering patents for inventions. Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, warned that Hegseth faces two likely outcomes from the impeachment effort. “Either Hegseth is going to step down, either he will resign voluntarily or Trump will fire him.

Or if that does not happen, I think it is extremely likely, if not certain, that the House will impeach him,” he said in his podcast on Monday. It echoes the stark reality many Republicans in Washington say is facing the secretary. Image Credit...

Kenny Holston/The New York Times Hegseth boasted that military strikes against more than 70 alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed more than 218 “narco-terrorists,” but human rights specialists say the strikes are illegal attacks against civilians.

Hegseth also said that maritime drug smuggling is down by at least 65 percent, but epidemiologists say that blowing up boats has not slowed cocaine traffic into the United States. President Trump posted on social media that he gives Hegseth an “‘A’ PLUS PLUS PLUS” for his remarks.

Trump continued to denigrate Massie, as he has for months, as a “TOTAL LOSER!” Trump’s antipathy toward Massie, a Republican with a libertarian streak, goes back years. In 2020, Trump wrote on social media that Massie was a “third rate Grandstander” after the congressman opposed a Covid-19 relief measure; the president called for Kentucky voters to “throw Massie out of Republican Party!” Massie, that election, then won his primary by more than 60 points.

Massie continued to anger the president by pursuing the release of the Epstein files and criticizing Trump over the president’s involvement in foreign wars and the ballooning national debt. This year, Trump was victorious in supporting a Republican primary challenger who defeated Massie.

He will leave Congress at the end the term. Image Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times Pete Hegseth defended his relationship with Congress, saying “I think what people misunderstand is the depth of partnership and work that we have done with House Republicans and Senate Republicans.” The remarks stand in contrast to statements from Republicans and Democrats that the defense secretary and his team are often dismissive of their questions or unprepared.

A key task for Hegseth will be passing a defense budget before the new Congress is seated in January. Hegseth’s Republican critics in the Senate could withhold their votes for more military spending until he is replaced. In his remarks, Hegseth seemed to acknowledge that possibility and the necessity of getting more money for the Pentagon.

“Right now, we’re flooding the zone because this lame duck period is critically important for funding of our department,” he said. After speaking for just under 30 minutes, Hegseth, who by turns sounded rushed, anxious, defensive and exasperated, invoked the defense budget which has yet to pass Congress — saying his job is “to ensure we’re funded and funded properly.

” However, the defense secretary has done little to enlist support for his proposed $1.5 trillion budget even from Republican members of Congress. Hegseth, and other officials in the administration, have long sought to paint Representative Thomas Massie as the lone “disgruntled” Republican member in indignant revolt against the president who led to his ouster.

But Massie is far from the only Republican who has been openly dissatisfied with Hegseth’s performance as defense secretary. A number have publicly supported the notion of Trump firing Hegseth, though none have openly committed to voting for impeachment. Image Credit...

Kenny Holston/The New York Times House Republican leaders told members of Congress that they could hold a vote related to the effort to impeach Pete Hegseth as soon as 5:30 p.m. today. Republicans said they may call up a procedural motion on the charges. That could be a move to effectively kill the articles of impeachment or bottle them up in a committee.

Hegseth calls Stephen Miller, the new White House chief of staff, an “incredible American patriot and a great friend of” the Defense Department. Image Credit... Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Hegseth said that claims that the American military targeted civilians were “slander.” “The only people who target civilians are the terrorists that we hunt, and I will dignify this claim no further,” Hegseth said.

He did not mention airstrikes on a school in Iran the first day of the war that killed more than 170 people, many of them children. Senior U.S. officials have said privately that the United States was responsible for the strikes, but neither the Pentagon nor Hegseth nor Trump has taken responsibility.

Image Credit... Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images In his defense Hegseth has sought to conflate the attacks on him, outlined in the articles of impeachment, as an attack on the troops who took part in part in operations in Iran, the Caribbean and the attacks on the Houthis in Yemen. “They answered the call, they executed, they won,” Hegseth said.

“And on the eve of Veterans Day, these resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime.” And he cast himself as their defender: “If they want to come for the warriors, they’re going to have to come through me.” Hegseth said that no Americans were “lost” in Venezuela, but the U.S. forces that abducted Nicolás Maduro did suffer casualties.

Representative Massie’s articles of impeachment noted that seven U.S. service members were wounded in the operation — a figure that the Pentagon has never publicly acknowledged. Image Credit... Roberto Schmidt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to be speaking to an audience of one: his boss, President Trump.

He has spent his opening remarks lavishing praise on the president, who he said was “willing to do what no other president would,” in striking Iran. “He did the tough, right thing not for politics but for the safety and security of the American people. That’s leadership.” Hegseth predicted that supporters of impeachment will fail, just as they did twice with President Trump.

“They will fail again, and if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I’ll take that company every day of the week,” Hegseth said. Video Credit Credit... Reuters In opening his remarks on Representative Thomas Massie’s articles of impeachment against him, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Massie “one disgruntled and defeated congressman” and argued that the congressman is not conducting oversight or accountability.

“It’s a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” Hegseth said. “Time for one man’s final days in Congress to try to do damage to this president, this country and, most irresponsibly, the warriors who defend it.” Video Credit Credit... Reuters The Pentagon on Monday foreshadowed the expected tone and scope of Hegseth’s comments Tuesday morning.

“Secretary Hegseth will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists,” Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement late Monday. He added that the department “has followed the law and our secretary will continue to stand and fight every single day to support and defend the Constitution, lead our troops, and protect America.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is facing an impeachment vote possibly as early as this evening in the House of Representatives, is holding a news conference at the Pentagon scheduled to start at 8 a.m.

A Pentagon press officer just told assembled reporters that anyone who does not behave with decorum will be thrown off the premises. It was unclear what prompted the warning, but back in 2008, during the Iraq war, an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President George W. Bush.

Trump has repeatedly defended Hegseth against the ‘terrible’ impeachment effort. Image President Trump on Sunday in Florida, where he said of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, “He’s guilty of two things, basically winning two wars.” Credit... Tierney L.

Cross for The New York Times Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is confronting a potential impeachment. But his fiercest defender has been President Trump. Repeatedly in recent days, Mr.

Trump has made clear he is standing by the embattled secretary, who could face an impeachment vote in the House as soon as Tuesday. Many House Democrats and Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, have accused Mr. Hegseth of violating federal law and the Constitution, and abusing his authority on a number of fronts.

Last week, Mr. Trump called the impeachment effort “terrible.” “All they do is they talk about impeaching everybody,” Mr. Trump said.

“If we wanted to play that game, we could play it just as well.” On Sunday, Mr. Trump defended Mr. Hegseth again when speaking to reporters.

“He’s guilty of two things, basically winning two wars,” the president said. “I believe we saved the Middle East and Israel combined. And it’s awfully hard to say let’s impeach somebody who did that.” Then again on Monday, Mr.

Trump attacked Mr. Massie, the Republican who is leading the impeachment effort, and urging Congress to “stand up for Pete!!!” in a social media post. “Look, Massie’s a loser,” Mr.

Trump said. “He shouldn’t be taking up the time of Congress or the Senate or anything that he’s doing. The guy’s a stone cold loser.” The president said Congress should impeach generals who served under President Joseph R.

Biden Jr. or earlier administrations and were responsible for other American wars, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. The officials he appeared to be referring to, though, are largely no longer in government. “What about impeaching the gentleman from Biden, his person that disappeared for two weeks and nobody had any idea where he was?” Mr.

Trump said, an apparent reference to Lloyd J. Austin III, Mr. Biden’s defense secretary, who spent three and a half days in the hospital before the White House was informed .

“What about impeaching the people that ran the Vietnam War?” Hegseth is defiant as an impeachment vote looms. Image Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed back against his detractors in a news conference at the Pentagon on Tuesday. Credit...

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth presented the impeachment effort against him, scheduled for a procedural vote as early as Tuesday evening, as a slanderous attempt by a single renegade congressman seeking to damage President Trump. In a rare appearance Pentagon news conference, the self-proclaimed secretary of war delivered a combative performance in which he lavished praise on his boss and pushed back at his detractors.

He predicted that those who seek to impeach him would fail as they did twice with Mr. Trump, a tacit acknowledgment that the impeachment effort has support from more than “one disgruntled guy.” “They will fail again, and if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I’ll take that company every day of the week,” Mr.

Hegseth said. Only two cabinet officials have been impeached in U.S. history, and neither was removed from office by the Senate. That Mr.

Hegseth scheduled the news conference appeared to be a measure of how much he feels the pressure to defend himself. Mr. Hegseth has not addressed reporters at the Pentagon since May, not even when a Navy commander was killed in a helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea on July 1 or when three U.S. soldiers were killed in an Iranian missile attack on a base in Jordan on July 17.

On Tuesday, the defense secretary took questions only from media outlets widely viewed as conservative or friendly to the Trump administration. The impeachment push is being led by Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, who is retiring at the end of his term after losing to a primary challenger backed by Mr.

Trump. Mr. Massie introduced articles of impeachment on Monday that accuse Mr.

Hegseth of violating the Constitution and federal law by ignoring the will of Congress in waging the war against Iran. Other charges accuse Mr. Hegseth of carrying out unlawful strikes against suspected drug traffickers in boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific; unlawfully capturing Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro; conducting unauthorized military operations in Yemen; and using his office to conduct political retaliation against his critics, including Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona.

Mr. Hegseth vowed to fight for his job. “It’s a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” Mr.

Hegseth said. “Time for one man’s final days in Congress to try to do damage to this president, this country and, most irresponsibly, the warriors who defend it.” Lawmakers and aides believe that the impeachment charges have a solid chance of passing the House with the support of several Republicans.

G.O.P. leaders could delay an impeachment trial, and it would be exceedingly difficult to get two-thirds of the Senate to vote to convict Mr. Hegseth. On Monday, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said the Senate “needs to put Pete Hegseth on trial so we can remove him for his catastrophic failure in Iran.” In his remarks, Mr.

Hegseth sought to conflate the attacks on him, outlined in the articles of impeachment, as an attack on the troops who took part in operations in Iran, the Caribbean and against the Houthis in Yemen. “They answered the call, they executed, they won,” he said. “And on the eve of Veterans Day, these resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime.” Mr.

Hegseth has been battling Congress since early in his tenure. The Pentagon still does not have its $1.5 trillion overall budget request approved, with lawmakers pointing to Mr. Hegseth as among the reasons.

Mr. Massie first moved to bring the impeachment resolution to the floor before the midterms, prompting Speaker Mike Johnson to call an early recess to avoid voting on the measure. On Sunday, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader poised to become the next speaker of the House, said he was a “hard yes” on the idea.

Democrats are widely expected to follow suit, with some Republicans having signaled that they would like to see the defense secretary gone, too. House Republican leaders told members of Congress that they could hold a vote related to the effort to impeach as soon as 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Republicans said they may call up a procedural motion on the charges. That could be a move to effectively kill the articles of impeachment or bottle them up in a committee. But Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, warned that Mr.

Hegseth faced two likely outcomes from the impeachment effort. “Either Hegseth is going to step down, either he will resign voluntarily or Trump will fire him,” he said in his podcast on Monday. “Or if that does not happen, I think it is extremely likely, if not certain, that the House will impeach him.” On Tuesday morning, Mr.

Trump posted on social media Mr. Hegseth’s remarks had earned an “‘A’ PLUS PLUS PLUS.” The president also denigrated Mr. Massie, as he has for months, as a “TOTAL LOSER!” The impeachment charges against Hegseth say he violated the Constitution.

Image Representative Thomas Massie called up a resolution accusing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of being “a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office.” Credit... Kenny Holston/The New York Times Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could face an impeachment vote in the House as early as this week, as lawmakers return to Washington after an election in which voters delivered a sweeping rebuke of the Trump administration and the president’s handling of the war with Iran.

The effort is being led by Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, who on Monday called up a resolution accusing Mr. Hegseth of violating federal law and the Constitution, and abusing his authority on a number of fronts. Democrats have signaled broad support for the effort, and several Republicans have expressed discontent with Mr.

Hegseth, though the outcome remains uncertain in a narrowly divided House. Here is what to know about the charges, the process and what could happen next. The measure charges Mr.

Hegseth with violating the Constitution. Mr. Massie, who lost his primary in May to a challenger backed by President Trump, has introduced eight articles of impeachment against Mr.

Hegseth, three of them focused on his conduct of the war with Iran. The articles accuse the defense secretary of waging war without congressional authorization and continuing the military campaign after Congress voted to direct the president to terminate the conflict or seek authorization to continue it.

The resolution also accuses Mr. Hegseth of violating deadlines under the War Powers Resolution, which requires the withdrawal of American forces from unauthorized hostilities after 60 days, with a possible 30-day extension. The remaining charges accuse Mr.

Hegseth of carrying out unlawful military strikes against suspected drug traffickers; unlawfully capturing Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro; conducting unauthorized military operations in Yemen; disregarding laws intended to minimize civilian casualties; and abusing his power by retaliating against Senator Mark Kelly for protected speech.

It is up to Speaker Mike Johnson to decide whether the chamber will vote on each of the eight articles or if they will be considered as a package. Mr. Hegseth has rejected the allegations, calling the impeachment effort a political sham.

He is scheduled to hold a news conference on Tuesday morning to respond to the charges. “Secretary Hegseth will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement on Monday in which he said Mr.

Hegseth intended to serve until the end of President Trump’s term. Mr. Trump has backed his defense secretary and said he intends to keep Mr.

Hegseth in his job. Image If the House were to impeach Mr. Hegseth, he would remain defense secretary while the articles were pending, with House leaders deciding when to send the matter to the Senate for a trial.

Credit... Alex Kent/The New York Times A majority is required to impeach Mr. Hegseth.

The Constitution lays out the process for Congress to impeach and remove presidents, judges and other federal civil officers, including cabinet secretaries. The first step is in the House, which considers articles of impeachment alleging treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

A simple majority is required to approve any article. Impeachment amounts to a formal accusation by Congress, which is then sent to the Senate for a trial to determine whether the official should be convicted and removed from office. House rules allow any member to propose impeachment articles and require that the body consider them within two legislative days.

Congressional leaders — in this case Republicans — have no power to block a vote, but they can try to head off the impeachment by either moving to send the charges to a committee, delaying final action, or to table them, which would effectively kill the effort. If the House were to impeach Mr.

Hegseth, it would take a two-thirds vote of senators present to convict and remove him. The outcome of the impeachment vote is uncertain. Democrats are widely expected to support impeaching Mr.

Hegseth, and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader, declared on Sunday that he was a “hard yes.” With Republicans holding a razor-thin majority, as few as three Republican defections or a few absences could be enough to put the resolution over the top. Apart from Mr.

Massie, several Republicans have expressed frustration with the secretary without committing to impeachment. Representative French Hill, Republican of Arkansas, said Sunday that he wanted to hear the arguments but cautioned that poor performance alone did not necessarily constitute an impeachable offense.

“I don’t know if we have enough votes,” Mr. Massie told reporters on Monday. “I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do.” Beyond the political calculations, many lawmakers are considering whether policy decisions ordered by the president warrant impeachment.

When House Republicans impeached Alejandro Mayorkas, who served as the homeland security secretary under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., over his handling of immigration enforcement, Democrats opposed the charges, arguing that policy choices did not constitute impeachable offenses.

The Republican-led House impeached Mr. Mayorkas, but the Senate dismissed the charges. There is no fixed timeline for impeachment.

If the House were to impeach Mr. Hegseth, he would remain defense secretary while the articles were pending, and it would be up to House leaders to decide when to send the matter to the Senate for a trial. Unlike legislation, however, impeachment resolutions do not die at the end of a Congress, so Democrats, who will control the House and Senate starting Jan.

3, would be able to take up the matter when they assume power. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.