Pete Hegseth says he will fight impeachment, defying calls to resign – USA Today

Pete Hegseth says he will fight impeachment, defying calls to resign  USA Today

WASHINGTON – Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth vowed to fight an impeachment effort and defended the decision to attack Iran, defying calls to resign after Republicans suffered devastating losses in an election widely interpreted as a public repudiation of the Iran war. “We don’t back down and that especially applies now,” Hegseth said on Nov. 5 in a video address. “The next few months and years are critical for our department and our republic.” President Donald Trump has acknowledged fielding calls from people who are critical of Hegseth’s leadership, but has repeatedly said he intends to keep him at the helm of the Pentagon. “I get these calls, you know, about him,” Trump said in an interview with ABC News.

“I don’t understand why.” Despite the public support from Trump, Hegseth’s political future faces some hurdles. Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance have said the Iran war was responsible for the GOP’s big losses in the midterms. Hegseth, the public face of the war, has said that he is committed to remaining at the Pentagon until the end of Trump’s term in office. In the video address on Nov. 5, he defended the decision to attack Iran as a “courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.” “When we say that Iran will not have