Trump Backs Hegseth as Massie Vows to Force Impeachment Vote Next Week Unless He Resigns

Since Democrats swept Tuesday's midterms, the pressure on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has moved from talk of an impeachment vote to a specific ultimatum, and Trump has answered it publicly.

Asked Wednesday, Nov. 4, whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, Trump said: "No, I think he's doing a very good job."

Asked whether Hegseth should fill the Tennessee Senate seat Marsha Blackburn will vacate when she becomes governor, Trump said: "I actually think he'd be very popular if he did that, but I haven't heard that at all."

Massie's one condition

Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who lost his primary in May, put his terms on X on Nov. 4. "There is one contingency in which I won't reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns," he wrote.

Massie told CNN he plans to trigger the vote when Congress returns next week. The House is scheduled to be back in session Nov. 9.

He first introduced eight articles of impeachment on Sept. 15 and read the 34-page resolution on the House floor. The House then recessed for the midterms without voting.

The articles allege Hegseth violated the War Powers Resolution, including by continuing hostilities in Iran beyond the 90-day window without congressional authorization. They also accuse him of abusing Pentagon powers in the Jan. 3 operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Those are Massie's allegations. No finding of wrongdoing has been made.

"You don't screw up this badly an election with just one issue," Massie told CNN. He added that the result "was completely avoidable if they'd just broken out of the cultish following of Donald Trump."

Votes and procedure

Impeachment in the House takes a simple majority. Removal requires a two-thirds vote of senators present. Democrats do not take control of either chamber until January, so next week's vote would come in the current Republican-run House.

CNN reported that multiple Republican sources expect the Hegseth measure to pass. Those sources were not named. CNN also reported that GOP lawmakers who survived Tuesday have shown no sign of breaking with Trump, but that their loyalty does not extend to Hegseth.

Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that "the reason we lost is the war," according to CNN. He did not assign specific blame for the war.

Trump has said he stands by the decision to enter the conflict with Israel at the end of February. "I did the right thing," he told The Wall Street Journal. "I would have done it again."

Hegseth's defenders and the whispers

The Pentagon's answer came from chief spokesman Sean Parnell. Hegseth "will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points," Parnell said. He added that Hegseth is "100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump's term in office."

CNN, citing White House officials, reported that Trump has told aides Hegseth should fight the impeachment effort and any investigations into his decision-making.

The private picture, as described by anonymous insiders, is less settled. A White House official told Fox News Digital the results "would have looked very different without the Iran War" and predicted Trump would hold Hegseth accountable, saying "That will play out in the lame duck."

A former White House staffer told Fox News Digital that "Hegseth is on the chopping block." An administration official said there were "signs" he could be ousted but that "only Trump knows what he's gonna do."

Another source told Fox that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who ran the sanctions campaign called Operation Economic Outcast, became the go-to voice on Iran "after Pete couldn't deliver an Iran victory."

A foreign policy source with ties to Hegseth said a Massie vote could force Republicans eyeing 2028 to "saddle themselves with a pro-Hegseth vote."

Anonymous Republicans also told CNN that Hegseth oversold the odds of a quick win and kept pushing escalation. A former senior Pentagon official told CNN that "the pivot is starting." None of them is named, and Trump and the Pentagon have rejected the idea that he is on the way out.

Fox also noted Hegseth's push to livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. The idea drew bipartisan backlash and Trump scrapped the livestream. Hasan's execution remains in place.

What comes next

The test arrives when the House reconvenes on Nov. 9. Hegseth has not responded publicly to Massie's ultimatum, and the Pentagon's statement says he is staying.

The open question is whether Republicans who privately want him gone will vote for impeachment over Trump's public support, and whether Trump's position holds through the lame-duck session.