Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attacked Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) on Tuesday in response to the outgoing lawmaker’s efforts to impeach him over his handling of the war with Iran and broader U.S. military operations. 

Hegseth called the effort a personal vendetta, while mounting a robust defense of the administration’s national security record.

Speaking at a Pentagon press briefing, his first in several months, Hegseth accused Massie — who introduced eight articles of impeachment against him on Monday — of carrying out a “political spectacle” rather than legitimate legislative oversight.

Massie, who lost his Republican primary earlier this year to a Trump-backed challenger and will depart Congress in January, has accused Hegseth of violating the Constitution and federal law by initiating and sustaining military operations in Iran, Yemen and Venezuela without explicit congressional authorization.

Pushing back, Hegseth argued that the allegations amounted to policy disagreements over military strategy rather than an impeachable offense. He warned that challenging lawful operations launched by the commander-in-chief risks undermining American service members and emboldening foreign adversaries.

“Bottom line is, policy disagreements are not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause,” Hegseth said. “The proper remedy for a policy disagreement: it’s legislation, it’s debate, it’s the next presidential election.”

The defense secretary also offered an extensive defense of the administration’s military campaign against Tehran, highlighting strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, missile facilities and naval assets, alongside operations in Yemen and Venezuela. He argued that those operations were authorized by President Donald Trump, properly communicated to Congress and carried out lawfully and successfully.

Hegseth’s remarks came amid growing political fallout from the Iran war, which Vice President JD Vance has identified as a major factor in Republicans’ sweeping midterm election losses. Asked whether he agreed with Vance’s assessment, Hegseth declined to engage and defended the administration’s decision to wage the conflict.

“I respect the vice president greatly, and I’m certainly not going to exchange any finger pointing,” Hegseth said. “And thankfully, politics is not really my thing. I do the Department of War and making sure we’re prepared and ready.”

“The vice president has been a critical member of the team in every aspect of this, and we’re grateful for all the input he’s given me personally in our department. And I think going forward, we’re going to learn all those lessons and apply them,” he added. 

Hegseth insisted that the military campaign had been justified by the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program.

“I agree with what the president said when he said, ‘Hey, if I had to do this all over again, would we do it again?’ Absolutely,” Hegseth said. “It was done for the right reasons to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”

“It’s not necessarily popular, but it may have been necessary, and that’s certainly how I feel. It was a necessary undertaking,” he added.

Asked whether he had contacted lawmakers to build support against the impeachment effort, Hegseth said Pentagon officials had been communicating with congressional Republicans including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and expressed confidence that lawmakers would reject the resolution.

“There’s a ton of support,” Hegseth said. “There’s also an understanding that this is one disgruntled guy who drew up some really flimsy articles that aren’t grounded actually in the Constitution, or things that are high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Looking ahead to the incoming Democratic-controlled Congress, Hegseth said Pentagon officials would continue engaging with lawmakers from both parties but emphasized that his immediate priority was securing additional defense funding during the lame-duck session.

“We’ve got civilian leaders and uniform leaders up on Capitol Hill all the time. That has been the case, and that will be the case with Republicans and with Democrats,” Hegseth said. “Right now, we’re flooding the zone because this lame-duck period is critically important for funding of our department. $350 billion at a minimum for reconciliation is what we believe is needed to make a generational and historic investment in this department.”

The Pentagon’s push for additional funding comes as Senate Democrats are preparing for a potential showdown over Iran war funding ahead of a Dec. 11 government funding deadline.

Following the press briefing, Trump signaled approval for Hegseth’s remarks, writing on Truth Social that “Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!”