WRITING’S ON THE WALL

Hegseth Hit With Ominous Warning About His Future

The Defense Secretary is in serious trouble if Democrats regain control of Congress.

Donald Trump’s Pentagon chief is headed for an impeachment showdown if the Democrats can make good on their thumping poll lead ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.

“If I were Pete Hegseth, I’d be worried,” Michigan Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet told Semafor in a report published Friday.

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“It’s certainly something that needs serious consideration,” she went on. “I hear Democrats, yes, but I also hear some Republicans saying it as well. I think there’s a lot he needs to answer for.”

McDonald Rivet’s warning reflects growing consensus in her party that the embattled defense secretary should be an early target for investigation if they can take control of the House.

Trump’s plummeting approval ratings, driven by his war with Iran and rising unaffordability, have helped Democrats gain a 9-point generic congressional lead ahead of Election Day.

Lawmakers told Semafor that going after Hegseth also represents a politically safer alternative to pursuing Trump himself.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other senior figures have apparently shown little enthusiasm for trying to impeach the president after their earlier attempts during his first term, which both failed.

But they’re also conscious that voters will expect them to hold the administration to account if they come out on top next month, and believe Hegseth offers their best chance to do that effectively.

“I 100 percent believe Pete Hegseth needs to be impeached and removed from office,” Democratic Rep. Melania Stansbury told Semafor. “Not only is he the worst secretary of defense in American history, he is a dangerous war criminal.”

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Hegseth has faced repeated accusations of violating international law with U.S. strikes on Iran, Iranian rebels in Yemen, the capture of Venezuelan despot Nicolas Maduro in January, and attacks on suspected narcotrafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea.

He provoked fresh outrage this week with plans to livestream a military execution. The Pentagon chief wants Americans to watch a firing squad kill Nidal Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist convicted of murdering 13 people in 2009. Critics have compared the move to propaganda tactics used by ISIS.

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Still, any campaign to remove him from office would face significant hurdles. Democrats could impeach the secretary with a simple House majority, but actually ousting him would require two-thirds support among senators, and therefore a sizable backing from lawmakers across the aisle.

The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment on this story.

“Secretary Hegseth has slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation, and delivered for our warfighters every step of the way,” Hegseth’s Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Semafor.

She added that the Defense Department “is better under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership than before.”

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