The vice president who pinned his party’s midterm wipeout on the Iran war now insists the drive to impeach the man running that war has nothing to do with Iran.
Vice President JD Vance rallied to the defense of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, as the Republican-led House prepared to vote on an impeachment resolution accusing the Pentagon chief of waging unauthorized war in Iran, Venezuela and Yemen.
The House killed the measure hours later, voting 211-204 to refer Rep. Thomas Massie’s eight articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee — a procedural motion that ended the effort outright. Had the motion failed, lawmakers would have debated and voted on the articles themselves Wednesday, Nov. 11. Eighteen lawmakers missed the vote, 11 of them Democrats; Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., said a traffic incident kept her from reaching the Capitol in time.
“Has Pete Hegseth committed impeachable crimes? The question is absurd and the answer is: obviously not,” Vance wrote on X.
“Congress has so many tools for registering its policy disagreements. Rather than use them, they’re going to try to impeach Pete Hegseth. They did the same to Donald Trump. Legislation is hard. Impeachments are easy (and ultimately, inconsequential),” he continued.
Then came the line that drew the most attention: “This isn’t about Iran, this is about the fact that Pete took on the bureaucracy at the Pentagon.” Lawmakers, Vance argued, are angriest at Hegseth precisely where he is most correct — repositioning forces away from Europe and Ukraine, and reorganizing the general officer corps.
Everyone Knows Why We Lost
A week earlier, Vance’s diagnosis ran the other way. On Nov. 4, after Democrats seized both chambers of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterms, he put the defeat squarely on the war. “Everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there,” Vance said.
He was blunter still in a post on X: “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.” Republicans across the party have blamed the Iran war and the surge in gas prices that followed it for losses that handed Democrats control of the next Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, 2027.
Why Massie Says Hegseth Broke the Law
Massie, a Kentucky Republican who lost his primary this year to a Trump-backed challenger and leaves Congress in January 2027, filed the privileged resolution Monday, Nov. 9, giving GOP leaders two days to bring it to the floor. The eight articles accuse Hegseth of illegally waging war without congressional authorization, abusing the powers of his office and violating the Constitution.
They reach beyond Iran to military actions in Yemen and Venezuela, including the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the extrajudicial killings of alleged drug smugglers in international waters. They also cite reported cuts to staff and resources at a Pentagon office charged with mitigating civilian harm — reductions that preceded a U.S. missile striking an Iranian primary school. Massie says the war has run 256 days with no congressional authorization, and that the law requires the military to withdraw from hostilities within 60 days absent one.
Reporters Warned Before the Secretary Spoke
Hegseth answered from the Pentagon briefing room Tuesday morning in his first news conference there in six months, rejecting the allegations as politically motivated and saying he has no intention of resigning. “This is not patriotism. This is sabotage,” he said, calling Massie a disgruntled and defeated congressman and arguing the resolution signals to Iran, the cartels and other adversaries that the United States will punish its own troops and civilian leadership for lawful operations.
President Donald Trump worked the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, urging Congress in a Monday night post to stand up for Hegseth, grading his briefing performance an A-plus on Truth Social on Tuesday and saying he would keep backing him even if the House impeached.
Democrats Get Their Turn in January
The reprieve may be short. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, in line to become speaker when Democrats take charge, backed the push, saying Hegseth “abused his power” and “undermined America’s national security.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer endorsed impeachment as well. Republicans, meanwhile, spent the same day picking new leadership: Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio beat Majority Leader Steve Scalise, 106-73, to lead House Republicans in the minority after Speaker Mike Johnson stepped aside, and Senate Republicans re-elected John Thune as their leader by acclamation.
Impeachment in the House takes only a simple majority, so a Democratic majority could approve articles without a single Republican vote; removal would require two-thirds of the Senate. Such a vote would make Hegseth the third Cabinet secretary impeached in American history, after William Belknap, President Ulysses S. Grant’s secretary of war, in 1876, and Alejandro Mayorkas, President Joe Biden’s homeland security secretary, in 2024 — and raise the prospect of a Senate trial soon after Democrats take the chamber.