Newsletters
U.S. Senator-elect Abdulrahman El-Sayed called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign after the House of Representatives voted 211-204 to send a resolution to impeach him to the Judiciary Committee, effectively killing the bid.
“Why are you still doing this job? You are really bad at this. You are failing your responsibility. You have mishandled this war,” El-Sayed said on Tuesday during an interview with CNN, speaking directly to Hegseth.
“So just resign. Make it easy for everybody instead of, in the end, getting taken out, because that is clearly what’s happening,” he added.
Asked about the 11 Democrats who did not show up for the vote, El-Sayed said: “You should show up and do your job.”
He linked the Iran war to rising costs for Americans.
“Everywhere I went in Michigan, the big questions were: Why does it cost me $80 to fill my truck? And why can’t I afford a second pound of ground beef at the grocery store? And that goes back to one issue, which is this insane war that we have no business fighting,” he said.
El-Sayed said he would “assess any impeachment that is done on its own merits” but added: “It’s really quite clear that Pete Hegseth is failing his responsibilities as Secretary of Defense.”
He also called for ending the war, describing it as “illegal, immoral and unethical.”
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced the resolution, with eight articles of impeachment accusing Hegseth of conducting military operations without congressional authorization and abusing his powers as defense secretary. Massie was the only Republican to vote against the referral, U.S. media reported.
Several articles centered on the eight-month war against Iran, including claims that Hegseth violated the War Powers Resolution. Others addressed U.S. strikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis in 2025, attacks on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, and efforts to punish Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over a video urging service members and intelligence personnel to refuse unlawful orders.
Hegseth dismissed efforts to impeach him at a Pentagon news conference earlier Tuesday.
“It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt and everybody knows it,” he said. “These are not high crimes. This is the job, and it’s the job well done.”
“I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow,” he said, defending operations involving Iran, Yemen and Venezuela.
President Donald Trump hailed the outcome on Truth Social, calling it an “EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot.”
The vote came a week after Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Republicans keep a narrow House majority until January 2027, when Democrats take over both chambers. Referring the resolution to the Judiciary Committee blocked a planned Wednesday floor vote but leaves the door open for lawmakers to revive the proceedings later.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
