Embattled Pentagon chief slams impeachment effort as 'farce'

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday denounced a push to impeach him as a "farce" and defended his record leading multiple military operations that have sparked allegations of misconduct against the Pentagon chief.

Under pressure after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for the Republican Party's sweeping losses in midterm elections, Hegseth now faces a congressional effort to remove him from office.

"It's a farce, and it's a stunt, and everybody knows it," a defiant Hegseth told journalists of the impeachment proceedings launched by Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican, the previous day.

"What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it's not accountability. It's a political spectacle," Hegseth said.

Massie, a fierce critic of Trump, is leaving office after losing a primary contest to a candidate backed by the president.

Trump has backed Hegseth so far, and on Tuesday wrote on social media that the Pentagon chief "gets an 'A' PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense" against the impeachment efforts.

Hegseth on Tuesday defended military interventions in Yemen, Iran and Venezuela as well as strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

"I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow," he said, equating the effort to remove him with an attack on US troops.

"These resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime. Their service was not a crime. These are heroes," said Hegseth.

Several of the articles of impeachment relate to the Iran war, accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional consultation on US military interventions.

Hegseth is a staunch defender of the widely unpopular war against Iran, which he has described as a "courageous and historic effort."

The 2025 conflict with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis also features in Massie's articles of impeachment, which charge Hegseth with starting the operation without congressional approval and in the absence of an imminent threat to the United States.

Massie also branded strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific as "extrajudicial killings" and said Hegseth "chilled independent legal review within the Department of Defense."

And he accused Hegseth of suppressing free speech by trying to punish Democratic Senator Mark Kelly over a video in which he and other lawmakers urged military and intelligence personnel to refuse illegal orders.

"Using the powers of his office, Secretary Hegseth retaliated against and sought to intimidate United States Senator Mark Kelly for his statement," one of the articles of impeachment said.