House Armed Services Committee Member Says Midterm Elections Will Lead to Hegseth’s ‘Ousting’

A House Armed Services Committee member says that the Democratic Party will oust Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if the Democrats retake the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a U.S. Army veteran, said Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation With Margaret Brennan that removing Hegseth is “priority No. 1” if his party retakes the chamber in the Nov. 3 elections, citing the secretary’s lack of protection of service members in the ongoing U.S. war with Iran.

“Iran remains a danger,” he said. “Pete Hegseth remains incompetent and is not doing what’s necessary to protect our service members, which is why he’s my priority No. 1 if we retake the majority, to make sure we oust him from the Pentagon, because our service members actually deserve competent, serious, real leadership that will protect them and do the right thing. And they currently don’t have that.”

Impeachment proceedings made against Hegseth, should Democrats reclaim the majority and take that route, are akin to articles put forth against a president. A House member would have to issue a resolution, with hearings and debate hypothetically followed a vote that requires a majority in the chamber.

More recently, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth. The outgoing conservative has accused Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973 in Iran, Venezuela and Yemen, among other reasons.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, instituted a House recess that never allowed Massie’s efforts to come to fruition.

Hegseth Faces Heat And Scrutiny

Hegseth’s tenure has been marred by controversy.

A Pentagon watchdog report revealed he shared classified details of military strikes via the unsecured Signal messaging app.

Relating to the war with Iran that on Thursday marks the eighth month of tumult, Hegseth has been criticized by some for his management of the conflict. He’s also faced scrutiny due to a sweeping purge of senior military leaders, in addition to public friction over removing diversity initiatives within the Armed Forces.

Also, his counter-narcotics strike operations on civilian boats near Venezuela led to congressional scrutiny over civilian casualties. There have also been several high-profile resignations in the Pentagon while Hegseth has led the department.

Crow, elected to Congress in 2018, joined the Army in 2002 and served with the 82nd Airborne Division and 75th Ranger Regiment before leaving the military in 2006 with the rank of captain. He was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and is the recipient of the Bronze Star.

“Secretary Hegseth has been a transformative leader for the Department of War,” Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson told Military.com. “Standards and merit are back, our arsenal is stronger than ever before, and morale and recruitment across every service are at an all-time high.

“Secretary Hegseth has slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation, and delivered for our war fighters every step of the way. By every measurable metric, the Department of War is better under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership than before. The entire department is unified behind the secretary’s vision and will continue working to put our war fighters and America first.”

In 2020, during Trump’s first administration, Crow argued for Trump’s impeachment.

During his conversation with Brennan, Crow doubled down on his criticism of the Trump administration by saying the president was “putting our service members at risk” by not adequately dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A summit between Trump, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping has been rumored.

“We’re building something new, that is America 2.0, the start-up,” he added. “And we need young folks across this country, particularly in the middle of the country, the heartland, to step up and to serve. … Americans deserve accountability and they deserve leadership.”