Washington (United States) (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is due to give a press conference on Tuesday, a rare event in which he will attempt to defend himself against the impeachment proceedings initiated against him for his management of the war against Iran.

Published on: 10/11/2026 - 05:06

The very hawkish head of the Pentagon has found himself marginalized since the Republican defeat on November 3 in the mid-term elections, between the risk that the future Democratic majority in Congress will initiate investigations against him and the disavowal expressed by voters against a war in Iran that he staunchly supported.

“I couldn’t be more proud of what our president has done, of the decisions he has made,” he insisted Monday to journalists, denouncing attacks coming from “politically motivated people.”

“Soldiers, real soldiers (...) love Pete Hegseth,” Donald Trump declared Monday evening in support of his minister, who he said did a “very good job.”

The fact remains that the American president and his vice-president JD Vance pointed to the offensive against Tehran as the reason for their electoral slap.

- “Ignored the laws” -

Pete Hegseth will therefore have a lot to do on Tuesday to prove that he still benefits from the support of his hierarchy in the new battle he must face: an impeachment procedure initiated Monday by an anti-Trump Republican deputy, even if it has little chance of succeeding.

Thomas Massie accuses the minister of having broken the law by waging war against Iran without having obtained authorization from Congress, and doing so "to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest detriment of the people of the United States of America."

The parliamentarian also criticizes him for having "ignored the laws" ensuring the protection of civilian victims by evoking the bombing of a primary school in Iran which killed 120 children in the first hours of the conflict.

With a total of eight charges, he also denounces other actions on his part at the head of the most powerful army in the world, such as the "extrajudicial executions" carried out, according to him, by the American army against drug traffickers in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Serial scandals

The impeachment procedure - the first step before possible impeachment before the Senate - could well be adopted in the House of Representatives. Because if the Republicans still have a majority, absences and bench breaks could make a favorable vote possible.

If this “impeachment” is approved in the House, the impeachment procedure then goes to the Senate. But there it risks blocking: the two-thirds majority, necessary for effective dismissal, seems difficult to achieve today.

Because if this procedure was launched by a Republican, the calls to hold Pete Hegseth accountable come mainly from the Democratic camp.

Leak of ultra-sensitive information, plan to broadcast a live execution... The opposition, which will take control of Congress in January, accuses this former Fox News presenter propelled to the head of the Pentagon in 2025 of being behind a series of scandals.

© 2026 AFP

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