US top Democrat backs impeachment of Pete Hegseth
US top Democrat Hakeem Jefferies says it’s a ‘hard yes’ on supporting efforts to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a vote that could be called this week. Jeffries is poised to become Speaker of the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.
Democratic lawmakers are mapping out their post-midterm agenda with pledges to lead committee investigations into Trump.
The frontrunner to lead the US House of Representatives after Democrats take control of Congress in January has said he is “a hard yes” for impeaching Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries told ABC’s programme This Week that Hegseth had “abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran”.
Supporters of Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico cheer after he won the Texas race during a midterm election night watch party at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas, on November 3, 2026. Trump on Sunday defended Hegseth when talking with reporters, saying: “I mean he’s guilty of two things, basically winning two wars,” referring to the US raid on Venezuela in January that removed President Nicholas Maduro and the ongoing war with Iran.
The US president's ambition to leverage his final two years sparks speculation that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be among the casualties.
Midterms success gives party potent leverage over Trump – expect tough campaigns of investigating and lawmaking “Costs, chaos, corruption”: after almost two years spent relentlessly criticizing Donald Trump for failing to address those three, broad political concerns, Democrats won a monumental return to power in Tuesday’s midterm elections that will give them potent new leverage over the president. Now the question becomes: what will they do with it?
Prosecutors in Paraguay have charged former president Santiago Peña over his alleged role in a banking scandal that led to his impeachment. Afterwards, Senate President Basilio Núñez said Peña was found guilty of “dereliction of duty”.