Hegseth survived impeachment bid but reprieve may be temporary: ‘He can’t escape justice forever’

The sentinel who bawled out Pete Hegseth for apparent disrespect at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider seemed to be speaking for more than just himself.Nothing quite epitomizes the disrepute into which the US defense secretary has fallen than the reprimand delivered to Hegseth and his party after they conversed and laughed loudly while visiting Arlington national cemetery on Wednesday to mark Veterans’ Day.Yet in a week that was especially turbulent even by his standards, that public indignity was the least of Hegseth’s problems.Hegseth and team reprimanded by Arlington national cemetery guard – videoThe self-anointed “secretary of war” found himself in the line of fire from his own side when Thomas Massie, the outgoing Republican representative from Kentucky, introduced eight articles of impeachment that alleged he was guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors”. The articles focused on his stewardship of the war against Iran, deadly strikes against alleged drug traffickers off the coasts of South America, the seizure of the former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, and attempted retribution against Mark Kelly, a Democratic senator, for urging armed services members to disobey illegal orders.In the event, Hegseth dodged a bullet when the House of Representatives voted by 211 to 204 against advancing the articles to a committee – a margin that could have been overcome if 11 absent Democrats, some of whom attributed their non-appearance to being “caught in traffic”, had turned up to vote.But the strength of feeling, combined with the Democrats’ thumping triumph in this month’s congressional midterms, suggests that Hegseth’s reprieve may be temporary.Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to be the Democratic House speaker when the new Congress assembles in January, vowed in a video produced by a military veterans organization that “we are going to run Pete Hegseth out of town.”House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., discusses his agenda during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/APMilitary veterans and commentators believe the threat is serious – and deserved.“He will not survive impeachment once the new Congress is seated,” said Randy Manner, a retired major general in the US National Guard and a member of National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A), a group of former senior military officers.“I give it 100% probability he’ll be the first secretary of defense to be impeached.”Joe Cirincione, a veteran military analyst and former congressional aide to the House armed services committee, said: “He is the worst secretary of defense in American history. Nobody else comes close.“The Democrats will take this up and and probably have a more rigorous process. They will vet the articles of impeachment more and build support for the resolution before they introduce it.“By then, even the Republican caucus will be greatly decreased in number and perhaps be more willing to vote against Hegseth.“Hegseth may have slipped the noose this time, but he can’t escape justice forever.”The ultimate sanction would be removal from office, an outcome that would require a two-thirds vote for conviction in a Senate trial.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026. Photograph: Nathan Howard/APWith the Democrats holding a maximum of 56 seats – the Alaska race is still to be called – the chances of that appear slim.However, Kevin Carroll – a former army intelligence officer who served in the defense secretary’s office under Donald Rumsfeld – predicted that a Senate trial could pose a serious threat to Hegseth.“I think several Republican senators will vote to convict,” he said. “A lot of Republican senators have said they felt burned by voting to confirm Hegseth due to the enormous pressure brought by Donald Trump when he was at the height of his powers.“Newly re-elected Republican senators will have another six years before they have to face voters – and Trump’s going to be far in the rearview mirror at that point.”Hegseth’s many critics charge that he is incompetent and unqualified to be in charge of the Pentagon, a vast bureaucracy with a trillion dollar-plus annual budget.They also accuse him of committing “extrajudicial killings” tantamount to murder by ordering strikes on alleged drug-ferrying boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that have killed around 200 people. Hegseth insists – without providing evidence – that the victims have drug traffickers engaged in narco-terrorism.Messiah Burnley, nephew of Chad Joseph, who family members believe was killed in a U.S. military strike on a boat in the Caribbean, carries a girl in front of an altar for Joseph in the family home in Las Cuevas, Trinidad and Tobago, October 22, 2025. Photograph: Andrea de Silva/Reuters“The boat strikes against shipwrecked sailors are clear violations of the law of war. We hanged Nazis who did the same thing to shipwrecked sailors,” said Carroll, who called Hegseth’s impeachment “a life and death matter”.Hegseth also stands accused of facilitating civilian deaths in the war on Iran, by openly deriding “stupid” rules of engagement and calling for “no quarter” in combat operations, rhetoric critics say paves the way for committing possible war crimes.Manner accused him reducing accountability by slashing the number of military judge advocate generals (JAGs) and inspector general in the US armed forces’ Central Command – responsible engagement in the Middle East – who would investigate accidents and potential war crimes.More than 165 people, including 120 children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on the first day of the war last February. Washington has not acknowledged responsibility, although independent investigations have concluded that it was a US strike. Carroll called the deaths “negligent homicide”.Hegseth was sufficiently perturbed by Massie’s impeachment move to stage his first Pentagon press briefing in six months at which he dismissed the articles as a “political stunt” that handed a propaganda victory to the US’s enemies.But Janessa Goldbeck, chief executive of the Vet Voice Foundation – a military veteran’s group – said they had widespread support.“There is a overwhelming sense from the veterans and military community, that Pete Hegseth is well deserving of impeachment,” she said. “We are coming to this in the context of an unconstitutional and illegal forever war and he has been the most unqualified and incompetent Secretary of Defense at the helm. And along with all of that, the Iranian regime is more entrenched than ever.”She added: “He is seeking to tie the impeachment articles as an indictment of President Trump and the strategy in Iran. But that’s not what these impeachment articles are about. They are about conduct that fits the standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. The question is whether he used the powers of his office in a way that damages the constitutional system itself.”