Pete Hegseth accused of ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’ in impeachment fight

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who has belittled the role of UK forces in Afghanistan, mocked the Royal Navy and castigated Nato allies as “freeloaders”, is gearing up to fight efforts in Congress to impeach him.

The former Fox News presenter is holding a news conference on Tuesday – his first in more than 180 days – in the face of efforts on Capitol Hill to formally charge him with “high crimes and misdemeanours” and ultimately remove him from office.

Giving an indication of the strategy he would adopt, Mr Hegseth claimed those levelling criticism at him were also “taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished”.

Republican representative Thomas Massie is pressing for the impeachment of Mr Hegseth amid growing momentum to hold him accountable for the Iran war, which many in the party blame for their midterm election wipeout.

Vice president JD Vance has said the conflict cost Republicans control of both chambers of Congress.

Mr Hegseth has been a divisive figure at the Pentagon, not only over his conduct of the Iran war, but also his sacking of top military officers, abrasive style and a willingness to disparage traditional allies.

This was recently underlined when he sought to diminish the role played by America’s coalition allies during the Afghanistan war, which cost the lives of 457 UK personnel, leading to a slapdown by Downing Street.

He has also previously claimed that some Nato members seemed “to think the era of free-riding is here” in relation to defence spending.

Near the start of the Iran war he rounded on the UK for failing to send warships to the region, saying “last time I checked there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well”.

And he dismissed plans by Britain and France to ensure the future security of the Strait of Hormuz waterway as “silly”.

He has accused members of the media of “treason” in their reporting of the Iran conflict.

The 34-page impeachment resolution, proposed by Mr Massie, largely focuses on the war in Iran, but also includes references to Mr Hegseth’s role in carrying out military actions in Yemen and Venezuela, as well as the lethal targeting of alleged drug-running vessels.

It states that in his conduct, Mr Hegseth “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to civilians, the lawful conduct of United States military operations, the integrity and credibility of the United States Armed Forces, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law”.

Opposing the move, the outgoing Republican House speaker Mike Johnson said: “Impeaching a cabinet secretary right now, especially the Department of War in the middle of hostilities abroad, would be a terrible, terrible look, a terrible thing for our allies and our enemies to see that.

“We don’t impeach cabinet secretaries for political gain or for cheap tricks, and I think that’s what this is and I think everybody knows it.”

If the House votes to impeach Mr Hegseth by a simple majority, it would next go to the Senate for a trial, where a two-thirds vote is needed for a conviction and removal from office.

Republicans remain in the majority in both chambers, until the new Congress convenes in January and the Democrats take control.

A vote in the House could come by midweek.

In the face of the impeachment threat, Mr Hegseth has defended the actions that he and President Donald Trump have taken against Iran, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Venezuela’s former leader, who was toppled by the US.

Referring to the military codenames for the operations, he said: “If you want to take issue with what we did in Epic Fury or Rough Rider or nabbing Nicolas Maduro, you’re taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished, which is historic.”

Speaking in Rhode Island, Mr Hegseth said: “My team, we’re not worried about the noise – it’s what I told the troops, too – don’t worry about the noise.”

He echoed comments made by US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Iran, saying: “It doesn’t have to be necessarily popular, but it can be necessary.”

Mr Hegseth argued starting the war with Iran was a “bold move” by Mr Trump as “you can’t let crazy Islamists have a nuclear bomb”.

He also repeated the claim that Iran is “devastated”, even though Tehran has continued to be able to carry out strikes against military bases in the Middle East used by the United States and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which has hit oil supplies and driven up fuel prices.