US House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has backed efforts to impeach defence secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of abusing his power and engineering the war against Iran, as Democrats prepare to use their newly secured congressional majorities to increase scrutiny of US president Donald Trump's administration. Speaking to ABC News' This Week on Sunday, Jeffries said he was firmly behind a resolution that Republican Representative Thomas Massie plans to introduce. "I'm a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution," Jeffries said, adding that Democrats would discuss the proposal when they reconvene on Tuesday. "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," he said. Jeffries also said Democrats would seek to end the conflict when they take control of Congress in January. "We want to do things like end this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has made life way too expensive," he said. Hegseth dismissed the impeachment push in a video, calling it "all about the politics of personal destruction" and saying it "won't work with me", according to CNN.
Democrats signal wider investigations
The impeachment push comes as Democrats prepare investigations into the Trump administration after their midterm election victories. Representative Robert Garcia, who is expected to chair the House Oversight Committee in the next Congress, said he was preparing inquiries into what he called the "Trump crime family". "The days of us not fighting back are over," Garcia, a Democrat from California, said. Trump responded to the prospect of congressional investigations by describing requests already made by Democrats as "extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable". Attorney General Todd Blanche also warned that criminal investigations of Democrats were possible. "They are not allowed to just go around threatening existing members of the administration, to go around threatening companies, and that's what President Trump is extremely worried about and he should be," Blanche said, according to the Associated Press (AP). However, some Democrats have cautioned against allowing investigations and impeachment efforts to dominate their agenda. Senator-elect Adam Hamilton said he was "not as interested in impeachment as setting up guardrails", while independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, warned: "We cannot spend all of our time investigating Trump. We've got to stand up for working-class families, make a real difference in their lives. "
Incoming Democrat also criticises Hegseth
CNN reported that Democratic Representative-elect Nancy Lacore, whom Hegseth removed as chief of the Navy Reserve in August 2025, called him the nation's "most unqualified" defence secretary. "He has caused significant damage to us as a country and put us at risk and really damaged the readiness of our entire military force," Lacore told CBS News' Face the Nation. She also linked the impeachment debate to the Iran conflict, saying the US needed to "end this war because that has driven up costs extraordinarily high across the district and the country".
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