The Republican’s brutal loss to Democrats in the midterm elections this week may largely have been impacted by US President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, but it looks like someone else will take the fall for the loss in voter confidence. That someone could just be one of the loudest advocates for the war that tanked Republican support: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Democrats, who now control the House after a landslide victory, could vote as early as next week to impeach Mr Hegseth, CNN reports.
Many Republicans are blaming Mr Hegseth for the election results as they argue that behind the scenes, he played a chief role in convincing Mr Trump to attack Iran – with no exit strategy.
This comes despite private acknowledgement from House and Senate GOP strategists that the Grand Old Party’s problems extended far beyond the war. They appear unwilling to directly blame Mr Trump for the bloodshed at the polls.
House Republicans are expected to vote to directly repudiate the defence secretary in a matter of days. Anti-Trump GOP lawmaker Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky told CNN he plans to trigger a vote to impeach Mr Hegseth when Congress returns next week. Multiple GOP sources have reportedly said they expect it to pass.
Mr Hegseth, who has reportedly made few friends in the Capitol, has oversold the US’ ability to win the Iran war quickly and easily, multiple Republicans told the outlet. They said he has continued to advocate for escalation despite little sign that continued bombing has brought Iran closer to surrender.
The war, which was launched by joint US-Israeli strikes at the end of February, has entangled the US in the Middle East indefinitely. This has contributed to the affordability crisis and is thought to have triggered voters’ midterm backlash.
However, Mr Trump’s own confidence in his defence secretary has not waned. The US leader personally likes Mr Hegseth and has supposedly told aides that he believes he should fight back against efforts to impeach him.
“Just two days ago the president was in the room with him, telling him, ‘You’re my best guy. You’re the best guy I have,'” one of the officials said.
Mr Trump may also feel the need to keep Mr Hegseth around if he chooses to move forward with additional strikes against Iran, especially with Democrats’ new majority in the Senate likely to complicate any administration efforts to confirm new Cabinet appointees, CNN reports.
Pressed on Wednesday on Mr Hegseth’s job status, Mr Trump defended the war effort and denied any plans to fire him, saying he thought the defence secretary was “doing a very good job.”
“If I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again,” Mr Trump said of his decision to go to war.
