US Hegseth faces Republican impeachment bid over abuse of power in Iran war

He has been critical of Donald Trump and the war in Iran since it started in February. Now Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie has filed a resolution to impeach Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, citing the war and alleging abuses of power. After filing eight impeachment articles, Massie accused Hegseth of extrajudicial killings, referring to a strike on a school in the opening hours of the war. A lot of people are saying, well, I think Peter Hegseth's effective. He's good at his job and so I don't want to vote for these articles of impeachment. Well, the reality is we're not indicting him for being bad at his job. In fact, he was very effective at killing school children in Iran. He was very effective at extrajudicial killings. There's no argument in these impeachment articles that he's ineffective. The argument here is that he's broken laws and he's violated the Constitution. The move comes in the wake of last week's midterm elections, when Democrats swept both chambers of Congress amid anger over the Iran war and surging fuel prices. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is among those who have defended Hegseth, as has Donald Trump, who vowed to stand by him if he is impeached. You have multiple, Mr. President, stand by me. I will say this, the soldiers, the actual soldiers, the great people that do the work, the great patriots, they love Pete Hegseth insists that he is, quote, not worried and has announced a press conference on Tuesday. Congress could vote as early as Wednesday. According to congressional sources, the resolution may have the simple majority to pass in the House of Representatives even before Democrats take over in January. However, conviction seems unlikely in the Senate, where a two-thirds majority is required.