Defiant Hegseth tells US Democrats their impeachment push ‘won’t work’

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said he will “not back down” against a “lame duck” Congress, and that the drives for his impeachment will “not work” in his first reaction after Democrats’ landslide victory in Tuesday’s election.

In a video uploaded by the Pentagon on Thursday, Hegseth said that “a disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies,” have been submitting bills for his impeachment, resembling that of the similar attempt against US President Donald Trump.

Hegseth was referring to Thomas Massie, a Republican House representative from Kentucky who has called for a vote to impeach Hegseth as soon as the Congress session resumes after the midterm election. Earlier this year, he was ruled out of the House race after a Trump-backed candidate was instead nominated to run for his seat.

“You see, their policies don’t work, so their obsession with political theatre disguised as power drives them to try to destroy their opponents. It’s all about the politics of personal destruction,” said Hegseth.

“Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”

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Watch: Asean defence ministers meet with US counterpart Pete Hegseth

The remarks come after Democrats took back control of both the House and the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The ongoing war in Iran, followed by the energy crisis caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, was cited as one of the key reasons for the Trump administration’s declining popularity and prompted increasingly bipartisan support to impeach Hegseth.

While Trump said that he is not considering replacing Hegseth, describing him as “doing a very good job” when speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the day after the election, the US president has also been asking his advisers whether the defence secretary should stay in his job, according to CBS News, citing sources.

Hegseth said his department must continue to “rebuild” the military, highlighting that “every vote from every patriotic member of Congress” is significant to pass the US$350 billion reconciliation bill for the financial year 2027 defence budget later this year to meet the Trump administration’s goal.

Describing former president Joe Biden and his predecessor, Lloyd Austin, as leaving the country in a “terrible place”, Hegseth said that his department had to “fight every single day to restore it”.

“You see, they attack me, they attack us, because we are effective. It’s not going to work. We will not back down. We put America and the warfighter first, always, and without apology,” said Hegseth.

“And that fight continues in the lame duck Congress, especially our historic and vitally important budget.”