Top House Democrat 'A Hard Yes' on Impeaching Pete Hegseth | BBC News

Nov 9, 2026 | The top Democrat widely expected to be the next US House of Representatives Speaker has said he is "a hard yes" for impeaching Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries told ABC's programme This Week that Hegseth had "abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran".

Outgoing Republican congressman Thomas Massie, a foe of President Donald Trump, has said he plans as early as Monday to introduce a resolution to impeach Hegseth, which could result in his removal from office.

The Pentagon told the BBC it had followed the law and that Hegseth would not be deterred by "phony investigations". President Donald Trump defended Hegseth on Sunday and pushed back against Democrats' calls to impeach the Pentagon chief. "They want to impeach him. Very unfair," Trump told CBS News' 60 Minutes. "We had two wars, we won both. We won Venezuela, we won Iran."