President Trump and Hegseth push back against impeachment effort

This morning, efforts in Congress to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are moving forward. The House is getting ready to vote this week on a measure that could set up a trial in the Senate. But both Hegseth and President Trump are pushing back. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie introduced the impeachment measure, which is getting wide support from Democrats. And just about an hour ago, and you saw it right here with us on Mornings on 2, Hegseth warned that the push for impeachment actively undermines national security, and he dismissed it as a political stunt. In the 250 years of our American Republic, no Secretary of War No Secretary of Defense has ever been impeached for... Carrying out lawful military operations. That's what it is, policy disagreements. Not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause. Now, Pete Hegseth also highlighted successful overseas strikes in Iran and against drug cartels as he defended the Trump administration's aggressive defense policy. And to talk more about all of this, we're joined now by David McEwen, our political science professor from Sonoma State. David, thank you for being with us on Mornings on 2. Pleasure to be with you, Dave. Now, you were watching Pete Hegseth live just about an hour ago. What was your basic takeaway from what he said? Well, he's obviously very defiant. The question really is how far does the White House support go for him? The president has backed him. He's talked about him and has posted on Truth Social about Pete Hegseth and how he's behind him. The question is how much political capital will he actually use as this builds? And it's expected that a vote will occur shortly. When that occurs and it moves to the Senate, the actions on the Senate are wide ranging. So the impeachment process twofold here, right? You get impeachment in the House and then the trial is in the Senate. But you need a super majority in the Senate of two-thirds votes of those senators if that seems to be happening. There are a range of options also before Pete Hegseth himself, he could actually resign. The president could come out and not back him. There's a lot of developments that could happen very quickly. So this is actually I think the biggest component of where Pete Hegseth is at and what potentially could happen. He's had a lot of critics over the last year and a half, but this is really his job hanging by a string. So the climate right now is... Reaching a fever pitch, do you think President Trump will bend against Pete Hegseth? Do you see the possibility of that? Yeah, I think there is a possibility in this sense, too. There's a lot of changes going on with House Republicans. And Senate Republicans in the wake of what happened last week. So the political capital and calculus that's going on in Capitol Hill is different than it was, say, eight days ago. That could affect Pete Hegseth. Now, there's no love lost by the White House for Thomas Massey, or obviously by Pete Hegseth for Thomas Massey, but these articles are wide ranging. So the difficulty will not be an impeachment vote in the House, but that two-thirds majority in the Senate is a possibility. Now, if it looks like he's going to become the first Secretary or the first cabinet secretary ever to be convicted. That would be historic and a big deal. And that's where you could see the president and the White House march back away from him. Let's also see what any comments come from Stephen Miller now that he's chief of staff and managing the White House. All of this developing very, very rapidly. It's not a surprise about the defiance from Pete Hegseth. The question is, what is the political calculus and the capital the White House wants to expend, especially in the wake of record-setting losses last week? Very good points, David, as always. David McKeown, our political science professor at Sonoma State. Good to have you, as always, on Mornings on 2. Pleasure to be with you, Dave. Thanks for having me.