Democrats in the US House of Representatives are pushing to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and may begin the process if the midterm elections prove successful for the party, according to a Friday Wall Street Journal report.
“One of the first things we’re going to do in the majority, we’re going to run Pete Hegseth out of town,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a rally in Pennsylvania this month, according to the WSJ report, which added that Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Hegseth is “incompetent and, frankly, corrupt,” during a CNN interview.
Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman called the secretary an “unhinged fanatic who should be impeached and removed from office," per the WSJ.
In September, Republican US Representative Thomas Massie, an outspoken critic of the war on Iran and aid to Israel, filed articles of impeachment against Hegseth, accusing him of abusing his office by executing an order for hostilities against Iran without approval by Congress.
Massie said he intends to force an impeachment vote shortly after the House returns to session on Nov. 9, the week after the elections, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Netanyahu, Hegseth hold covert meeting at Israel's Ovda air base days before Israel's election
Hegseth and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Israel on Monday, two sources confirmed to Walla on Tuesday.
Reuters reported that Hegseth also confirmed the visit, but would not elaborate on the details of his talk with Netanyahu.
According to a KAN News report on Tuesday, the main topic of discussion was Iran.
Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly attended the meeting, but IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and other senior Israeli officials were not invited for confidentiality reasons.
Ariella Roitman, Amichai Stein, and Idan Kweller contributed to this report.