Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “has got to go.” The House Democratic leader, poised to become the first Black Speaker, called himself a “hard yes” on an impeachment resolution, and this time he will not need to wait for Republicans to blink: one of them is already moving.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, plans to force a vote when Congress returns next week, CNN reported. Multiple GOP sources told the network they expect it to pass, though many Republicans remain reluctant to break with the president. White House insiders say Donald Trump wants Hegseth to fight the effort.
The anger inside Hegseth’s own party is about Iran. Many Republicans blame him for talking Trump into the war that began in February, “with no exit strategy,” in CNN’s account. Massie’s earlier articles of impeachment accused Hegseth of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Jeffries, speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” said Hegseth “has abused his power.”
Black readers have their own file on this secretary. In February 2025, Trump fired Gen. Charles Q. “CQ” Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, only the second Black officer to hold the job, and Hegseth announced the removal of two other senior officers the same day. Months earlier, on a podcast, Hegseth had said “you gotta fire the chairman of Joint Chiefs,” and he had speculated that Brown may have gotten the post because of his race. Brown was a fighter pilot with decades of service.
The military has long been one of the few institutions where a Black officer could rise on merit. A secretary who treats a Black general’s race as a mark against him sends a message to every Black service member below that general’s rank.
There is a fair argument on the other side. Impeachment is a blunt tool, strategists in both parties say the GOP’s midterm losses go beyond one cabinet officer, and Trump, not Hegseth, made the final call on Iran. That is true. It is also no defense: a secretary who advised a war with no exit plan, and who purged the officers who might have said so, answers for his own advice.
Democrats take control of the House in January, but Massie’s resolution can come to the floor first. If enough Republicans join Democrats, the House will impeach him before the new majority is sworn in.
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