US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is going through mounting stress, as Democrats put together to scrutinise his management in Congress whereas Republicans blame the Iran struggle he supported for his or her losses within the midterm elections. Hegseth, a former Fox News co-host and National Guard officer, has weathered a number of controversies since taking workplace……
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is going through mounting stress, as Democrats put together to scrutinise his management in Congress whereas Republicans blame the Iran struggle he supported for his or her losses within the midterm elections.
Hegseth, a former Fox News co-host and National Guard officer, has weathered a number of controversies since taking workplace in early 2025, however his place now seems more and more unsure.
President Donald Trump has stood by Hegseth thus far, insisting he’s doing “a very good job” when requested whether or not he would change the Pentagon chief.
But Trump and Vice President JD Vance have each blamed midterm election losses on the Iran struggle, for which Hegseth is a key advocate and spokesman.
Opposition Democrats gained majorities in each homes of Congress this week, giving them the ability to launch investigations and to curb funding for the Defense Department and the Iran struggle.
The battle, which has seen Iran partially block the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway, has wreaked havoc on the worldwide economic system. Resulting worth surges, particularly of vitality, have angered US voters.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance mentioned of the Democratic wave — a press release Trump agreed was “largely true.”
– ‘Not going to work’ –
Hegseth acknowledged the stress he’s going through in a video message on Thursday wherein he defended his document and described the struggle as a “courageous and historic effort.”
“They attack me, they attack us, because we are effective. It’s not going to work. We will not back down,” he mentioned on the steps of the Pentagon.
Some US lawmakers have made clear that Hegseth and the Iran struggle are of their sights.
“I’m going after Pete Hegseth. Not only is he incompetent and corrupt, he’s undermining our national security and the safety of our troops,” mentioned Representative Jason Crow, a Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Representative Adam Smith, the highest Democrat on the committee, mentioned its prime precedence could be “to conduct vigorous oversight of the Department of Defense and the Trump Administration,” together with on “the illegal war against Iran.”
Hegseth additionally faces a menace from a member of the Republican Party — outgoing Representative Thomas Massie — who plans to introduce articles of impeachment when the House is again in session subsequent week.
“There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns,” Massie mentioned.
The anti-Trump lawmaker sought to question Hegseth earlier this yr, however Republicans despatched the House into recess earlier than a vote might be taken.
– Repeated scandals –
In his video message, Hegseth dismissed the “sham articles of impeachment” from Massie, whom he described as a “disgruntled, defeated congressmen,” and equated the trouble to take away him with previous impeachments of Trump.
“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me,” he mentioned.
Hegseth has been on the middle of numerous scandals and controversies over the previous two years, most not too long ago over a plan — which Trump in the end scrapped — for a army firing squad execution to be livestreamed.
A number of months after Hegseth took workplace, the Atlantic journal revealed its editor-in-chief had been inadvertently included in a Signal chat wherein the Pentagon chief and different officers mentioned imminent strikes on Yemen.
Strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats within the Caribbean and jap Pacific have additionally been a supply of controversy, particularly an assault final yr that left survivors who have been killed in a follow-up strike.
In different contentious strikes below Hegseth, quite a few senior army personnel, together with the nation’s top-ranking officer, Charles “CQ” Brown, have been fired, typically with little or no public rationalization.
Representative Smith mentioned the boat strikes, Trump’s deployment of troops to US cities, and the “blatant and corrosive politicization of our armed forces” are all “high on the list” of points to be investigated by the brand new Congress.
AFP
