US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has denounced a push to impeach him as a "farce" and defended his record leading the Iran war and other military operations under President Donald Trump.
"It's a farce, and it's a stunt, and everybody knows it," he said at a Pentagon press conference on Wednesday, branding the impeachment push "slander" and "sabotage."
Hegseth's combative performance came as Congress inched toward a rare vote on impeachment over alleged misconduct related to wars against Iran and Yemen's Houthis, and the controversial killing of alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
The effort throws down a challenge to Trump, already weakened by last week's midterms drubbing, where anger at the sputtering Iran war and subsequent surge in fuel prices helped drive voters to a historic rejection of Republicans.
Trump has acknowledged that the war — which Hegseth has championed — contributed to his party losing control of both the House and Senate.
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But moments after Hegseth's televised press conference, the 80-year-old president signalled his support.
"Pete Hegseth gets an 'A' PLUS, PLUS, PLUS," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Vice President JD Vance, who has also blamed midterm losses on the Iran conflict, likewise backed the Pentagon chief on Wednesday, saying he has "obviously not" committed impeachable offences.
The expected impeachment vote in the House comes in the lame duck period when Republicans still retain their narrow majority, ahead of next January when the huge new Democratic majority takes over.
If a majority in the House voted in favour, the Senate would still need a two-thirds majority to convict and remove Hegseth — a tall order even after Democrats take up power there too in January.
The impeachment articles were introduced by a Republican Trump critic, Thomas Massie, who will soon exit Congress after losing his seat.
Trump called Massie "a disgruntled, angry, defeated former Congressman" and "a TOTAL LOSER!"
Hegseth defended the operations in Yemen, Iran, Venezuela and against alleged drug smugglers.
"I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow," he said, also seeking to equate the effort to remove him with an attack on US troops.
"These resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime. Their service was not a crime. These are heroes," said Hegseth.
Several of the articles of impeachment relate to the Iran war, accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional consultation on US military interventions.
Hegseth has called the widely unpopular war a "courageous and historic effort."
The 2025 conflict with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis also features in Massie's articles of impeachment, which charge Hegseth with starting the operation without congressional approval and in the absence of an imminent threat to the United States.
Massie also branded strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific as "extrajudicial killings" and said Hegseth "chilled independent legal review within the Department of Defense."
And he accused Hegseth of suppressing free speech by trying to punish Democratic Senator Mark Kelly over a video in which he and other lawmakers urged military and intelligence personnel to refuse illegal orders.
For Hegseth, the articles of impeachment amount to an attack on Trump's record, which he said he is happy to defend.
"If they want to talk about ... President Trump's foreign policy and national security record, let's do it. I'll see you there. Let's have a conversation about the success that I outlined here," Hegseth said.
