Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing a fresh wave of impeachment demands from Democrats and open attacks from his own party following the abrupt resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, which blew the lid off simmering anger over his purge of the military’s top brass.
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Driscoll quit Monday after months of clashes with Hegseth, leaving the Army with no Senate-confirmed leader six months into the war with Iran. His exit capped a run in which Hegseth has fired or forced out more than two dozen senior officers, often with no public explanation.
MeidasTouch’s Scott MacFarlane relayed the trouble facing the Pentagon chief in blunt terms Wednesday.
“Pete Hegseth increasingly and clearly is becoming a political liability for Team Trump and for Republicans here on Capitol Hill,” he said, before playing damning clips of lawmakers taking aim at Hegseth.
The sharpest Republican rebuke came from Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force general on the House Armed Services Committee. On CNN, he said Hegseth “wouldn’t be my choice” to run the Pentagon.
“I think we should all be concerned when the Secretary fires so many senior general officers and admirals,” Bacon said, noting the Army’s top two leadership posts now sit empty.
Democrats pounced on Driscoll’s departure to revive their impeachment campaign, with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) asserting, “It’s way past time.”
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Asked whether it was time to impeach Hegseth, House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) didn’t hesitate.
“He has committed multiple offenses. I would support that,” Garcia said, pointing to “pay-to-play” reports at the Pentagon and calling the war in Iran “illegal.”
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) filed six articles of impeachment against Hegseth in April over the Iran war, alleged war crimes and his handling of classified information, and party members are now urging colleagues to sign on. The effort remains all but doomed in the GOP-run House, but that could change following an expected midterm drubbing.
President Donald Trump waved off the turmoil, saying Hegseth is “doing a fantastic job” while deflecting questions about the secretary’s rumored 2028 ambitions, reports Hegseth has called “100% false.”
Bacon’s remarks were echoed by Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), who called Driscoll’s exit “disappointing,” signaling the Pentagon chaos has worn thin with Republicans as the November midterms approach.
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