Calls for self-styled War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ouster have grown louder on Capitol Hill as a possible impeachment vote looms this week.
asserted
vote → style → Hill
At the same time, Hegseth has shored up support at the White House and among MAGA faithful, according to dismayed Pentagon officials.
uncertain
Hegseth → shore → officials
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., will reportedly renew his impeachment effort on the House floor Monday afternoon after coordinating with House Republican leadership.
uncertain
Massie → renew → leadership
Top Democrats have indicated a desire to join Massie’s effort since their midterm election landslide.
asserted
Democrats → indicate → landslide
“I am a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is poised to be the next House speaker, told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
asserted
who → poise → Sunday
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the current House Oversight Committee chair, told Newsmax on Friday it is “very possible” the votes exist to impeach Hegseth.
asserted
votes → tell → Hegseth
Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., one of the leading voices for Hegseth’s impeachment, agreed.
asserted
Ansari → lead → impeachment
“I think there’s a high chance that it will be successful,” she told The Intercept of Massie’s effort.
asserted
she → think → effort
In April, Ansari filed six articles of impeachment against Hegseth, including violations of the law of armed conflict and targeting of civilians, abuse of power, and obstructing congressional oversight.
asserted
Ansari → file → oversight
She called for a floor vote on his ouster this week.
asserted
She → call → ouster
“Hegseth has demonstrated that he is wholly incompetent.
asserted
he → demonstrate → ?
He’s committed what I believe to be war crimes in Iran and the Caribbean and he is ill-equipped for the job
asserted
he → commit → job
,” said Ansari.
asserted
Ansari → say → ?
“My reason for introducing the articles of impeachment back in April had a lot to do with his conduct and the war crimes in Iran, including the bombing of the children’s school.
asserted
reason → introduce → school
But it’s refreshing to see that since then, more and more Republicans are also recognizing that his leadership has failed and that he’s putting all of us in danger.
asserted
he → ’ → danger
In the wake of a devastating election rout of the GOP that handed Democrats firm control of the House and the Senate, Congress begins a five-week lame-duck session on Monday.
asserted
Congress → hand → Monday
With dozens of Republican lawmakers ending their tenure in the House, it’s unclear how many will even show up for votes.
uncertain
many → end → votes
Such absences, as well as outright defections in the GOP ranks, make it increasingly likely that Massie’s measure will pass, staffers on Capitol Hill told The Intercept.
asserted
staffers → make → Intercept
On Sunday, GOP Rep. French Hill of Arkansas left open the possibility of backing the measure.
asserted
Hill → leave → measure
“I want to hear the debate on it to see if it merits impeachment versus some other disciplinary action or action by the president,” he said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”
asserted
he → want → Nation
Outgoing House speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not answer when asked by Politico if GOP leaders would whip the Hegseth impeachment vote.
asserted
leaders → answer → vote
House leaders must take up the matter within two legislative days; opponents could table the resolution or refer it to committee instead of voting directly on impeachment.
uncertain
opponents → take → impeachment
After narrowly being confirmed by the Senate, which required Vice President JD Vance to break a 50-50 tie, Hegseth’s tenure has been marked by fiascos and failures beginning with Signal-gate, the sharing of secret war plans in a chat group with a journalist.
asserted
tenure → confirm → journalist
In that case, according to the Pentagon’s own inspector general, “Hegseth violated security protocols and endangered U.S. troops and objectives.”
uncertain
Hegseth → accord → troops
Since then, Hegseth has been under perpetual fire for the unsuccessful Iran war in 2026, specifically a strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, that killed more than 150 civilians, most of them children,
asserted
most → kill → them
He faces pressure over his campaign of extrajudicial killings in attacks on so-called drug boats in the waters off Latin America.
asserted
He → face → America
And questions continue to mount about his purge of top military leaders — many of them women and minorities.
asserted
many → continue → them
“The fact that many career officials from the department have left citing his leadership, I think, is very telling,” said Ansari.
asserted
Ansari → leave → leadership
Last week, The Intercept published an exposé quoting six current and former defense officials who currently serve or served under Hegseth and called for his ouster.
asserted
who → publish → ouster
“He is conducting state terrorism.
asserted
He → conduct → terrorism
He needs to be prosecuted,” said Wes J. Bryant, one of those officials and, until last year, a senior targeting adviser and policy analyst at the Pentagon who was pushed out of his job for blowing the whistle on Hegseth’s efforts to undermine protections for civilians.
asserted
who → need → civilians
As calls for his ouster have grown louder, Hegseth launched a desperate bid to whip up support at the White House, including a nakedly obsequious video seeking Trump’s support that he posted on X.
asserted
he → grow → X.
It was accompanied by a coordinated campaign of social media posts by Pentagon underlings tying Hegseth’s fortunes to the president with the text “STAND. FIGHT. DEFEND THE REPUBLIC.”
asserted
It → accompany → REPUBLIC
Hegseth’s hand was strengthened on Friday when Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles stepped down and was replaced by his hard-line domestic policy adviser, raging xenophobe, and illegal boat strike proponent Stephen Miller, according to two Pentagon officials.
uncertain
chief → strengthen → officials
The embattled war chief was quick to offer “Huge CONGRATS” to Miller on X, and posted a photo of himself alongside Trump’s new consigliere.
asserted
chief → offer → consigliere
The same coterie of Hegseth devotees at the Pentagon followed with similar posts featuring Miller.
Wiles had reportedly soured on Hegseth, blaming his woeful management of the Iran war for flagging Republican fortunes.
uncertain
Wiles → follow → fortunes
A senior Trump administration official also told MS Now that Miller and Hegseth “have been extremely close since the beginning of the administration.”
asserted
Miller → tell → administration
If the House impeaches Hegseth, removing him from office would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate — a high bar, even when Democrats take control of the chamber in January.
asserted
Democrats → impeach → January
Neither of the two Cabinet secretaries impeached by the House — William Belknap, the secretary of war, in 1876; and Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, in 2024 — were convicted by the Senate.
asserted
Neither → impeach → Senate
An Armed Services Committee staffer who spoke with The Intercept was skeptical that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would bring the measure to a vote.
asserted
Thune → speak → vote
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
