Hegseth impeachment articles and Trump loyalty test after midterms, Digi Mart USA News: The Democrats elected in the midterm defeat of Donald Trump do not take their seats in Congress until January, but repercussions against senior White House officials have already begun. One man appears to be first on the chopping block.
Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman, has laid out articles of impeachment against the self-styled “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth, and there may be enough votes to pass the motion in the House and trigger a full trial in the Senate. That would put Trump’s unpopular Iran war further under the microscope.
“I hope he addresses the eight articles [of impeachment] and doesn’t get up and misquote the Bible in Quentin Tarantino fashion and do some pull-ups and, you know, call everybody fat and gay,” Massie said of Hegseth, adding: “I may have just given you half his speech.”
Hegseth, for now, is talking tough, and Trump is sticking by him, at least in public. “Really, what has Hegseth done?” Trump asked, vowing to “stand by” his cabinet appointee.
Hegseth said: “We’re not worried about that,” and claimed that anyone attempting to impeach him was actually “taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished.”
The move against Hegseth, coming from a Republican, is likely just the beginning of what will prove to be a loyalty test for those around Trump as his presidency enters a new phase after a humiliating loss. Some will expect to be fired, some will eye the exits, and others will look to stay on.
Trump is secure until January 2029 barring extraordinary circumstances, such as removal from office through impeachment, which would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate, or invocation of the 25th Amendment, which would require his own Cabinet to turn on him. The calculus for those around him is very different.
There is also pressure on Trump to find scapegoats for the disastrous electoral results and to publicly fire them to show voters and Republican lawmakers that he understands the need to change course.
That suggests some high-profile firings could be on the way. Hegseth would be an obvious early firing or scapegoat.
Similarly, Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s mass deportation policy, which saw Hispanic support swing away from Republicans by more than 25 points nationwide, would be another obvious candidate. Instead, he has been promoted to White House chief of staff, making him more prominent than ever.
Miller’s elevation was made possible by the departure of Susie Wiles, the veteran political operative who held the role. The White House has kept quiet on whether Wiles was fired and blamed for the results.
Wiles has faced little public criticism, and it was even suggested she chose to walk away.
That would make Wiles the most prominent official to leave before the pressure intensifies, but she is not alone. Several prominent Department of Justice officials have announced their exits: the head of its national security division, its civil rights unit head, and the official who led a probe into those who investigated Trump have all resigned.
Others may follow before Democratic lawmakers take their newly won majorities in January and begin the expected rounds of probes and investigations into actions by the Trump administration. By then, the President will hope to have secured his core group of staffers, those who will stay with him for the final years of his presidency as he wages what the article describes as a war of attrition against his political foes.
The power of a U.S. president diminishes in the final months of a second term, because everyone knows he will soon be gone, and attention moves to the contenders for the office.
When a president is deeply unpopular and his party does not control Congress, that happens even faster.
Trump will need a hardcore group of loyalists willing to push the Constitution to its limits to advance the more controversial aspects of his agenda over the next two years, and will rely on his last and most essential power to keep them onside. Officials such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have some distance from the President.
Those in the core operation, including Miller, Natalie Harp and others directly around the Oval Office, face a different calculus.
Trump can, until the last moment before he leaves office, issue blanket pardons for anyone he wishes. That gives him leverage over his core team: if they leave early, will Trump still remember their names when he drafts his final pardon list?
Pardons help Trump shape the decisions of those weighing whether to stay or exit, and some will feel they have little choice.
Between now and January, Trump will be looking for loyalists who are likely to remain with him until the end. Increasingly, it appears he is choosing who will get a place alongside him in the bunker.
