The push to impeach Hegseth will gain momentum if Democrats win the House

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s political future could be on the line if Democrats win the House majority in next week’s midterm elections.

A Democrat win of the House could breathe new life into an ongoing effort to impeach Hegseth, potentially convincing more Republicans to get on board in a vote shortly after the elections.

If that push fails, Democrats are planning to set their sights on the defense secretary if they have the House gavel in the new Congress, with a major push toward impeachment.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie has vowed to force a vote to impeach Hegseth when the House returns after the midterms in November if the secretary is still in office. If Republicans lose the majority, Massie is increasingly confident that there will be the bipartisan votes needed for impeachment, which just requires a simple majority.

“The membership of the retirement caucus is going to swell on Election Day,” Massie told CNN. “Those members of Congress who aren’t coming back, who are Republican, might be compelled to vote their conscience when they’re no longer worried about having the support of Trump or the GOP for their election.”

It is unclear how Republican leadership will handle the issue after the election. Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home early in September, staving off a vote before the midterms. He said at the time that his plan was to block a vote, calling the push to impeach Hegseth “a stunt” and saying the defense secretary has “done an extraordinary job.”

But one source familiar with Republicans’ thinking told CNN that the impeachment effort is being taken seriously and that there is a real possibility some Republicans could vote in favor as many have grown increasingly frustrated with Hegseth and the Pentagon.

Regardless of what happens with the impeachment push in November, Democrats are sure to intensify scrutiny on the secretary in the new Congress if they take back the House, which they are increasingly confident will happen.

If their party flips the chamber, Democrats on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are planning wide-reaching investigations into the US war with Iran and lawmakers are coalescing around Hegseth as their top target to start. Lawmakers want to press Hegseth on the decision to go to war, how the war has been conducted, and the ways they say the administration has avoided consulting Congress, including why lawmakers still have not received a full accounting of exactly how much the war has cost.

“He is the lowest hanging fruit because of the animosity that seems to be both from Republican and Democratic senators and staff,” a Democratic aide told CNN. “He is going to be investigated. There is going to be oversight, and whether that turns into impeachment in the Senate is an outstanding question if Democrats win back the Senate.”

President Donald Trump on Thursday praised Hegseth, decrying the effort to impeach him as “terrible.”

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“All they do is talking about impeaching everybody,” he told reporters, referring to Democrats. “But they’re talking about Pete Hegseth. He’s doing a great job, he’s a great warrior.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement, “At the War Department, we are solely focused on Peace Through Strength and ensuring our warfighters have everything they need to be successful. We are proud to serve our warriors.”

Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement, “Secretary Hegseth has been a transformative leader for the Department of War.”

“By every measurable metric, the Department of War is better under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership than before. The entire Department is unified behind the Secretary’s vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first.”

Hegseth isn’t the only Trump cabinet secretary that Democrats want to investigate if they win the House. Democrats say that Attorney General Todd Blanche and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would also be among top targets for oversight.

Many Democrats have been much quicker to support impeaching Hegseth than Trump, at least publicly.

Having impeached Trump twice, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal said, “We can’t get into a situation where the American people start to believe that we can never convict an impeached president.”

But the calculus for Hegseth is different.

“Even if the Senate refuses to convict or take it up, I think it’s important that the country understands how dangerous he is, and then when we take back the majority, then we can actually do the investigation and the accountability that we need,” Jayapal told CNN.

Even Democratic candidates on the campaign trail have vowed not to pursue a snap impeachment of Trump.

“I’ve had people say that you know the first thing we should do is impeach the president, and I, my answer has been no. We need to focus on delivering for the American people,” Democrat Bob Harvie, who is trying to flip a critical battleground seat in Pennsylvania, told CNN.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has tried to take a measured stance when asked about the possibility of impeaching Trump administration officials, saying Democrats “haven’t ruled anything in, and we haven’t ruled anything out.” He has said that if Democrats win the House he wants to see how investigations play out.

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But Jeffries sharpened his position against Hegseth in a recent interview with CNN’s Manu Raju.

“I think there’s a reason why Republicans raced out of town to avoid holding that impeachment vote because they know Pete Hegseth has been a failure,” Jeffries told CNN in an interview during a campaign stop outside of San Diego. “He’s been a failure prior to this reckless and costly war of choice, and then of course he’s badly mismanaged the whole situation over in Iran. So we’ll see what happens in terms of that vote. But I believe Pete Hegseth is in deep trouble.”

Many among Hegseth’s group of close advisers, which includes former Fox News producers and social media personalities, have encouraged Hegseth to consider political office — including a possible presidential run in 2028, CNN reported earlier this month.

Some Trump allies told CNN they believe Hegseth would entertain a 2028 presidential bid only if Vance decided not to run.

His movements have also been watched with increasing interest in Tennessee, where his family moved several years ago, though GOP sources there say he has not taken steps in the state yet that might suggest he harbors political ambitions there.

But even if Hegseth were to leave his post and avoid an impeachment vote, Democrats still want to pursue oversight.

Rep. Chris Deluzio, who was part of a group of Democrats who urged service members and intelligence officials to disobey illegal orders that might be issued by Trump’s administration, and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN that even if Hegseth is removed or leaves office, he still needs to be investigated.

“We investigate wrongdoing, and when we’re talking about the prosecution of a war, a lack of protection for our troops and their families, that should happen no matter this being secretary or not because we need to get to the bottom of how the Pentagon failed so many patriotic Americans,” Deluzio said.

Rep. Jason Crow, another member of the group who called on service members to disobey illegal orders, told reporters last week, “Pete Hegseth is a special project of mine to make sure that he does not sit in the Pentagon for any longer than he needs to, and I will do everything possible to remove him from his post because our servicemembers deserve that.”

Hegseth’s political future remains in question as Congress and the Trump administration appear to be on a collision course over how to approach the Iran war and foreign policy more generally.

On the campaign trial, Republicans have confronted angry voters frustrated over the war and its impact on the affordability crisis.

There was bipartisan outrage over the Pentagon’s plan to livestream a firing squad execution (Trump later called off the proposal for a livestream, which faced bipartisan backlash).

Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee have also publicly vented frustrations over what they have described as a lack of clarity provided by Department of Defense officials about the objectives, price tag and length of the war.

If a vote to impeach Hegseth succeeds before the start of a new Congress, Senate Majority Leader John Thune would have to contend with how to handle the situation and whether to crowd an already jam-packed floor schedule with a Senate trial. A Thune spokesperson declined to comment. Senate Democratic staff have had informal conversations about how they would handle the impeachment of Hegseth, according to a source familiar with the conversations.

A lot of the calculus could come down to the results of the midterms.

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Once lawmakers return to session in November, the Republican-controlled House and Senate will have to contend with must-pass pieces of legislation involving the Pentagon like the annual defense policy bill and supplemental funding for the Iran war.

The anger that Republicans have towards Hegseth and the president’s recent diesel deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin could further complicate that.

Retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon has been outspoken in his criticism of Hegseth’s leadership, calling him “more of a performer than he is a leader.” He told CNN he has not decided how he is going to vote on the impeachment of Hegseth, but is leaning against it.

“I think we should do oversight,” Bacon said. “That’s part of the problem back home. People don’t see us as being a check and a balance right now, and I think that’s going to hurt us down ballot because a lot of swing voters who tend to be Republican wanted more of an independent voice in the House.”

But Bacon warned that the anger Republicans are harboring could make it difficult to deliver the funding and polices the administration is looking for.

“It was on life support to begin with, but I think that plug has been pulled,” Bacon said of Trump’s agenda.

CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Adam Cancryn contributed

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如果民主党在下周的中期选举中赢得众议院多数席位，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯的政治前途可能会受到威胁。

民主党赢得众议院可能会为正在进行的弹劾赫格塞斯的努力注入新的活力，并有可能说服更多共和党人在选举后不久的投票中支持弹劾。

如果这一努力失败，民主党人计划在新一届国会中掌控众议院后，将矛头指向国防部长，并大力推动弹劾。

共和党众议员托马斯·马西誓言，如果国务卿赫格塞斯在11月中期选举后仍在任，他将在众议院复会时发起弹劾投票。如果共和党失去多数席位，马西越来越有信心能够获得弹劾所需的两党支持，而弹劾只需简单多数即可通过。

“选举日当天，退休议员联盟的成员人数将会激增，”马西告诉CNN。“那些不再连任的共和党国会议员，在不再担心能否获得特朗普或共和党的支持后，可能会被迫凭良心投票。”

目前尚不清楚共和党领导层将在选举后如何处理此事。众议院议长迈克·约翰逊在9月初就让议员们提前回家，从而避免了在中期选举前进行投票。他当时表示，他的计划是阻止投票，称弹劾赫格塞斯的举动是“一场闹剧”，并称赞这位国防部长“工作做得非常出色”。

但一位熟悉共和党人想法的消息人士告诉 CNN，他们正在认真对待弹劾工作，而且一些共和党人很有可能会投赞成票，因为许多人对赫格塞斯和五角大楼越来越感到失望。

无论 11 月份的弹劾进程如何，如果民主党人重新夺回众议院的控制权（他们越来越有信心能够做到这一点），他们肯定会在新一届国会中加大对国务卿的审查力度。

如果民主党赢得参众两院的控制权，众议院和参议院军事委员会的民主党议员计划对美国与伊朗的战争展开全面调查，并将赫格塞斯视为首要调查目标。议员们希望就发动战争的决定、战争的进行方式以及他们所说的政府如何回避与国会协商等问题向赫格塞斯施压，其中包括为何议员们至今仍未收到关于战争确切花费的全部账目。

一位民主党助手告诉CNN：“由于共和党和民主党参议员及其工作人员似乎都对他抱有敌意，所以他是最容易下手的目标。他将会受到调查，将会受到监督，如果民主党重新赢得参议院的控制权，那么这是否会在参议院演变成弹劾，还是一个悬而未决的问题。”

周四，唐纳德·特朗普总统赞扬了赫格塞斯，并谴责弹劾他的行动“糟糕透顶”。

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“他们整天只会说要弹劾所有人，”他告诉记者，指的是民主党人。“但他们现在却在谈论皮特·赫格塞斯。他做得很好，他是一位伟大的战士。”

五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔在一份声明中表示：“在战争部，我们专注于以实力求和平，并确保我们的作战人员拥有取得成功所需的一切。我们为能为我们的战士服务而感到自豪。”

五角大楼新闻秘书金斯利·威尔逊在一份声明中表示：“赫格塞斯部长一直是战争部的变革型领导人。”

“从所有可衡量的指标来看，在特朗普总统和赫格塞斯部长的领导下，战争部比以往更加出色。整个战争部都团结在部长的愿景之下，并将继续努力把我们的作战人员和美国放在首位。”

如果民主党赢得众议院，他们希望调查的特朗普内阁部长不止赫格塞斯一人。民主党人表示，司法部长托德·布兰奇和卫生与公众服务部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪也将是重点调查对象。

至少在公开场合，许多民主党人比特朗普更快地支持弹劾赫格塞斯。

民主党众议员普拉米拉·贾亚帕尔曾两次弹劾特朗普，她说：“我们不能让美国人民开始相信我们永远无法给一位被弹劾的总统定罪。”

但赫格塞斯的考量却不同。

“即使参议院拒绝定罪或受理此案，我认为重要的是让全国人民了解他有多危险，然后当我们重新获得多数席位时，我们才能真正进行我们需要的调查和问责，”杰亚帕尔告诉 CNN。

就连民主党候选人在竞选活动中也誓言不会立即弹劾特朗普。

“有人跟我说，我们应该做的第一件事就是弹劾总统，但我的回答是，不。我们需要专注于为美国人民谋福利，”民主党人鲍勃·哈维告诉CNN，他正试图在宾夕法尼亚州的一个关键摇摆州赢得席位。

众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯在被问及弹劾特朗普政府官员的可能性时，试图采取谨慎的态度，称民主党人“既没有排除任何可能性，也没有排除任何可能性”。他还表示，如果民主党赢得众议院，他希望看看调查结果如何。

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但杰弗里斯在最近接受 CNN 记者马努·拉朱的采访时，进一步明确了他对赫格塞斯的立场。

“我认为共和党人急忙逃离华盛顿，避免举行弹劾投票是有原因的，因为他们知道皮特·赫格塞斯一直是个失败者，”杰弗里斯在圣地亚哥郊外的一次竞选活动中接受CNN采访时表示。“在发动这场鲁莽且代价高昂的战争之前，他就是个失败者，当然，他在伊朗问题上也处理得一塌糊涂。所以，我们拭目以待这次投票的结果。但我相信皮特·赫格塞斯处境非常危险。”

据 CNN 本月早些时候报道，赫格塞斯的亲信顾问团中许多人，包括前福克斯新闻制片人和社交媒体名人，都鼓励赫格塞斯考虑从政，包括可能参加 2028 年的总统竞选。

一些特朗普的盟友告诉 CNN，他们认为只有在万斯决定不参选的情况下，赫格塞斯才会考虑参加 2028 年总统竞选。

他的动向在田纳西州也越来越受到关注，他的家人几年前搬到了那里。不过，当地共和党人士表示，他尚未在该州采取任何可能表明他怀有政治野心的行动。

但即便赫格塞斯离职并避免弹劾投票，民主党人仍然希望进行监督。

众议员克里斯·德卢齐奥是敦促军人和情报官员不服从特朗普政府可能发布的非法命令的民主党人之一，他同时也是众议院军事委员会的成员。他告诉 CNN，即使赫格塞斯被免职或离职，他仍然需要接受调查。

德卢齐奥说：“我们调查不当行为，当我们在谈论战争的执行、我们军队及其家属缺乏保护的问题时，无论这位部长是谁，都应该进行调查，因为我们需要彻底查明五角大楼是如何辜负了这么多爱国的美国人的。”

众议员杰森·克劳是该组织成员之一，该组织曾呼吁军人拒绝服从非法命令。他上周告诉记者：“皮特·赫格塞斯是我的一个特别项目，我要确保他不会在五角大楼待得比他需要的时间更长，我会尽一切可能让他下台，因为我们的军人应该得到这样的待遇。”

由于国会和特朗普政府在如何处理伊朗战争以及更广泛的外交政策问题上似乎存在分歧，赫格塞斯的政治前途仍然不明朗。

在竞选活动中，共和党人面对的是愤怒的选民，他们对战争及其对住房负担能力危机的影响感到沮丧。

五角大楼计划直播枪决，这一计划引起了两党的强烈愤慨（特朗普后来取消了直播提议，但遭到了两党的强烈反对）。

众议院军事委员会的共和党人也公开表达了不满，他们认为国防部官员在战争的目标、成本和持续时间方面缺乏清晰的说明。

如果弹劾赫格塞斯的投票在新一届国会开始前获得通过，参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩将不得不考虑如何应对这种情况，以及是否要在已经排得满满当当的参议院议程中再安排一场弹劾审判。图恩的发言人拒绝置评。据一位知情人士透露，参议院民主党工作人员已经就如何处理赫格塞斯的弹劾案进行了非正式讨论。

很多结果可能最终取决于期中考试的成绩。

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/文件

一旦立法者在 11 月重返会场，共和党控制的众议院和参议院将不得不应对涉及五角大楼的必须通过的立法，例如年度国防政策法案和伊朗战争的补充拨款。

共和党人对赫格塞斯的愤怒，以及总统最近与俄罗斯领导人弗拉基米尔·普京达成的柴油交易，可能会使情况更加复杂。

即将退休的共和党众议员唐·培根曾公开批评赫格塞斯的领导能力，称他“更像个表演者而不是领导者”。他告诉CNN，他还没有决定如何就弹劾赫格塞斯投票，但他倾向于反对弹劾。

“我认为我们应该进行监督，”贝肯说。“这是我们家乡的问题之一。人们现在不认为我们起到制衡作用，我认为这会损害我们未来的选举，因为很多倾向于共和党的摇摆选民希望众议院能有更多独立的声音。”

但贝肯警告说，共和党人心中的愤怒可能会使政府难以获得所需的资金和政策。

“特朗普的政策一开始就岌岌可危，但我认为现在已经彻底失败了，”贝肯谈到特朗普的政策议程时说道。

CNN的杰里米·赫布和亚当·坎克林对此文亦有贡献。