WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, Relish Wire – Pete Hegseth faces a growing bipartisan effort to remove him through impeachment, with Republican lawmakers expressing confidence that the measure could attract enough support to pass the House.
The latest impeachment push follows the midterms election, in which Republicans lost woefully to Democrats who won seats in both the House and Senate.
Republican criticism of the Iran campaign has become more visible since the vote, with lawmakers and critics linking their frustration to the war and its conduct.
In a video message on Nov. 5, Hegseth spoke directly to service members and rejected the impeachment campaign, calling it politically motivated.
🚨 BREAKING: SecWar Pete Hegseth just DROPPED this defiant banger amid mass calls to have him fired or impeached "WE DON’T BACK DOWN. That ESPECIALLY applies now." 🔥 LET’S FREAKING GO! 🇺🇸 "They’re obsessed. A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly, just like they tried against President Trump twice." "We tore down their sacred cows, one by one, without apology." "You see, their policies don’t work, so their obsession with political theater disguised as power drives them to try to destroy their opponents. It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that." "I’ll assure you, we have only just begun to fight. We are more determined than ever, more resolute than ever to finish what we have started." Music to my ears. Pete is here to stay. Hegseth has been one of Trump’s EASILY best picks. We also cannot forget that the troops love him Impeachment will fail, he’s doing his job, morale is high, and he’s going to KEEP WORKING HARD https://t.co/YBZEypD3J1
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 5, 2026
“To the troops: Don’t blink. Ignore the noise. Never hesitate… All this is politics. You do real things. So, stay the course!” Hegseth said.
“Just like the president, we don’t back down, and that especially applies now. The next few months and years are critical for our department and our republic.”
The former Fox News host now U.S. Secretary of War, acknowledged that articles of impeachment had been filed against him and compared the effort to previous attempts to impeach President Donald Trump
“Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”
🚨 LATEST: Congress THREATENS impeachment for Pete Hegseth. Thomas Massey intends to force an impeachment vote if the Pentagon chief does not resign first. THEY ARE TARGETING THE PENTAGON Hold the line for Hegseth https://t.co/vdKESAjV1r
— Aaron Bacus (@AaronBacus) November 5, 2026
The challenge to Hegseth is no longer confined to Democrats.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has committed to forcing a vote when Congress returns unless Hegseth moves first and resigns first.
Other Republicans are now openly assessing whether the votes exist.
Axios reported on Sunday that House Republican leaders are bracing for enough GOP defections to impeach the war dog, Hegseth, when the measure comes to a vote this week.
“Iran, Iran, Iran … We should have never done the war before the midterms,” a GOP lawmaker told Axios.
“He’s screwed,” separately, one House Republican told Fox News Digital.
In another hot take, another GOP lawmaker said that Hegseth’s tone and rhetoric have been “very damaging to our ability to get the facts out to the American people on why the strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, and the additional military actions, were necessary.”
Hegseth doesn’t have “a lot of love” on Capitol Hill, retiring Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Fox News.
Additionally, Bacon has said he is undecided on this week’s vote, speaking to Axios.
“I’m not sure if I would do it the night we get back, but it would be soon after we return — if he’s still in the job,” Massie said in a phone interview with Roll Call digital on Oct. 26, where he put the prospects higher than many expected.
Massie said he gave the measure better than a 50 percent chance of passing, predicting that all Democrats would vote for it and that a handful of Republicans would be more likely to support it in the lame-duck session, after their campaigns were over.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., additionally, also said it was very possible the votes exist to impeach Hegseth, citing Republican concerns over the Iran war and its undefined exit strategy.
Comer said there was a lot of anger over the entire Iran fiasco, adding that voters had made that very clear and that Republican voters were more upset than Democratic voters.
Democratic leadership has also hardened its position. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on ABC’s This Week:
“I’m a hard Yes on the Hegseth resolution. The so-called Secretary of Defense has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe. Pete Hegseth has got to go.”
“We’ll certainly have that conversation on Tuesday morning when we reconvene for the first time in Washington, D.C., but I believe there will be incredibly strong support for that resolution,” he added.
Democrats had already sought Hegseth’s impeachment long before the midterms through separate resolutions introduced by Reps. Shri Thanedar and Yassamin Ansari. The current challenge is different, with Republican lawmakers now also expressing support for bringing a measure to a vote.
Back on Sept. 15, Massie announced that he would force the House to vote on eight charges against Hegseth. His proposed charges focus principally on Hegseth’s role in the Iran campaign, accusing him of continuing military operations without congressional authorization and disregarding statutory limits on the use of U.S. forces. They also challenge his decision to continue hostilities after Congress directed a withdrawal.
“By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable,” said Massie.
The other charges he pushed for include civilian casualties plus U.S. military strikes against suspected drug traffickers, and an alleged retaliation against a senator, and the operation involving Venezuela’s former leader and military action in Yemen.
Massie intends to use a privileged resolution to bring the measure before the House despite possible opposition from its leadership. Leaders could still move to table the measure or refer it to committee, which would effectively kill it.
Hegseth has rejected the impeachment campaign as politically motivated and vowed to remain in office, while Massie and other lawmakers prepare to test whether opposition to his leadership extends far enough across party lines to secure a House vote.
If Hegseth is impeached and convicted, he would make history as the first Cabinet secretary ever convicted by the Senate — the only other Cabinet secretary impeached by the House was Secretary of War William W. Belknap in 1876, who was acquitted by the Senate after resigning, while Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached in 2024 but had the charges dismissed.
