Jeffries Says He's a 'Hard Yes' on Impeaching Hegseth, Days After Declining to Commit

Hakeem Jeffries has moved from "we'll have that conversation" to "hard yes."

The New York Democrat, poised to become House speaker, told ABC's This Week on Sunday, Nov. 8, that he supports Rep. Thomas Massie's resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. "I'm a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution," Jeffries said. "The so-called secretary of defense has abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe. Pete Hegseth has got to go."

That is a shift from two days earlier. On NPR's Morning Edition Friday, Jeffries called Hegseth "the most unqualified secretary of defense in American history," but when asked directly whether Hegseth should be impeached he said, "I don't want to get out ahead of the caucus."

What happens in the House this week

Massie, a Kentucky Republican who is retiring at the end of his term after losing a primary to a Trump-backed challenger, said he plans to reintroduce his resolution as soon as Monday, Nov. 9. It carries eight articles of impeachment, including an allegation that Hegseth violated the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

He tried before the midterms. Speaker Mike Johnson called an early recess to avoid the vote. Impeachment resolutions are privileged motions, so once Massie renews his notice the House must take them up within two days.

Jeffries said Democrats will discuss the matter when they return Tuesday, Nov. 10, and predicted "incredibly strong support" in his caucus. CNN reported that multiple GOP sources expect the measure to pass.

The Senate math

Impeachment in the House is a charge. Removal requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Only two Cabinet officials have ever been impeached, and the Senate removed neither.

A separate lever is a war powers resolution. Jeffries told NPR that with majorities in both chambers Democrats could pass one, forcing President Trump to sign or veto it. Overriding a veto would take two-thirds majorities in both chambers, and Democrats are currently short of that.

Hegseth, Trump and the Justice Department push back

Hegseth rejected the effort in a video posted Thursday. "A disgruntled, defeated congressman along with all his Democrat allies has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly," he said. "It's all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn't work against President Trump, and it won't work with me."

Pentagon deputy press secretary Joel Valdez said chief spokesperson Sean Parnell had convened his team to map "the most aggressive defense of Secretary Hegseth and the President's agenda ever assembled."

Trump has not wavered publicly. Asked Wednesday whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, he said: "No, I think he's doing a very good job." On Saturday he wrote on social media that investigative requests already made by Democrats amount to "extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable."

Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday on CNN's State of the Union that the Justice Department "represents members of the executive" and that he "would be very worried" if he were a Democrat threatening to investigate administration officials. He also said criminal investigations of Democrats are possible. "They are not allowed to just go around threatening existing members of the administration," Blanche said.

Republican grumbling

CNN reported that many Republican lawmakers and allies are moving to pin the midterm losses on Hegseth, arguing behind the scenes that he played a chief role in convincing Trump to attack Iran. House and Senate GOP strategists privately acknowledged the party's problems extended far beyond the war, CNN reported, and party leaders remain unwilling to directly blame Trump.

One Republican close to the White House told CNN: "Pete has been either dishonest or incorrect, neither of which are acceptable, about timelines, goals and objectives since the beginning."

Not every Republican is ready to impeach. Rep. French Hill of Arkansas said on CBS's Face the Nation, "I want to hear the debate on it to see if it merits impeachment." He cautioned that poor performance does not necessarily rise to the level of an impeachable offense, and said that if Hegseth was not carrying out his mission properly, "the president ought to make a change there." Rep. James Comer of Kentucky said it was "very possible" enough lawmakers would vote to impeach, but told NewsNation that removing Hegseth was a decision President Trump would have to make.

Not every Democrat is eager

Jeffries' own side is not uniformly focused on impeachment. Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton, the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Kansas in 94 years, said, "I'm not as interested in impeachment as setting up guardrails." He said he does not want the next two years spent "dividing our country further."

Sen. Bernie Sanders said he wants to hold Trump accountable but warned there is only so much time. "We cannot spend all of our time investigating Trump," he said. Many Democrats also warn that delivering on their central promise to voters, lowering the cost of living, must take precedence.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, poised to chair the House Oversight Committee, is preparing investigations into what he calls the "Trump crime family." "The days of us not fighting back are over," he said.

An AP VoteCast survey of more than 100,000 midterm voters found about 7 in 10 say Congress is not doing enough to provide checks and balances on the presidency.

The next concrete steps come this week. Massie is expected to file his renewed notice, which starts the two-day clock, and House Democrats meet Tuesday to discuss the resolution.