WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked Congress to approve at least $350 billion in additional military funding through a budget reconciliation bill, making the case in a video released Thursday that also defended the war with Iran, days before the House returns to a possible vote on impeaching him.
“The Department of War must be funded to meet the moment right now. That includes a generational investment, a reconciliation bill of at least $350 billion, to keep this department, our country, way ahead in a dangerous world,” Hegseth said in the video, according to Anadolu Agency. “We need every vote from every patriotic member of Congress.”
Hegseth credited President Donald Trump with returning the department to its warfighting mission, citing the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the removal of military leaders the administration judged unsuccessful, stronger deterrence and higher recruitment. He called the Iran campaign a “courageous and historic effort” that he said would keep Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The White House posted the message on its website under the title “Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is delivering a stronger military, a safer America.”
Trump has publicly backed his defense secretary. Asked Wednesday whether he planned to replace Hegseth, the president said, “No, he’s doing a very good job,” and on Thursday he said Hegseth “has done a fantastic job” and “probably has opposition” because of actions such as changes in military leadership, NBC News reported. NBC also reported, citing two people familiar with the discussions, that Trump has asked some allies who might succeed Hegseth.
The impeachment resolution
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who lost his primary this year to a Trump-backed challenger and leaves Congress in January, has said he will reintroduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth when the House returns on Monday. “There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns,” Massie wrote on X on Wednesday, a post Snopes confirmed on his official account.
Massie’s draft, which he read on the House floor in September, contains eight articles, Roll Call reported. They allege that Hegseth violated the 1973 War Powers Resolution in prosecuting the Iran war, acted illegally in military campaigns in Venezuela, Yemen, the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific, disregarded the protection of civilians and suppressed the free speech of a U.S. senator. Those are allegations in a proposed resolution; none has been adjudicated.
Massie plans to offer the resolution as a question of the privileges of the House. If the parliamentarian agrees that it qualifies, the speaker has up to two legislative days to schedule a vote, and the House could vote on the articles directly or on a motion to table them, according to Roll Call. Massie’s September attempt ended without a vote when Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent the House home early for the pre-election recess.
In his video, Hegseth called the effort political. “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,” he said, according to NBC News. “It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me.”
Update, Nov. 9: In a statement provided to The Washington Inquisitor on Monday, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said: “Secretary Hegseth will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists. The Department of War has followed the law and our Secretary will continue to stand and fight every single day to support and defend the Constitution, lead our troops, and protect America. We will continue to drive President Trump’s agenda at the Department of War — despite threats of sham witch hunts from Democrats — and Secretary Hegseth is 100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump’s term in office.”
The math
Impeachment requires a simple majority of the House. Massie has said he expects all Democrats to support it and that some Republicans may be more willing to vote yes in a lame-duck session than they were before their campaigns ended. Attendance could matter in a closely divided chamber, Fox News reported, since members who lost their races may not show up for every vote.
If the House adopted articles, the Senate, still under Republican control until January, would have to receive them. It could vote by simple majority to dismiss them, as it did with the articles against former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and conviction would require a two-thirds vote. The House has impeached only two Cabinet officials, Mayorkas and Secretary of War William Belknap in the 1870s, and the Senate has never convicted one.
The funding request
The $350 billion figure would come on top of regular defense appropriations. Government funding currently runs through Dec. 11, and the lame-duck Congress must pass another spending measure before Democrats take control of both chambers in January. A reconciliation bill can pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
Democrats who will lead the House next year, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is in line to become speaker, have said they want Hegseth out, NBC News reported.
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