'This isn't about Iran': JD Vance defends Pete Hegseth against impeachment push, calls effort ‘absurd’

US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday came out in strong support of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, dismissing calls for his impeachment and arguing that his actions in leading the military do not constitute impeachable offenses.

Vice President JD Vance said Hegseth had committed no impeachable offenses, calling the effort a political exercise rather than meaningful oversight. (AFP)In a post on X, Vance rejected the allegations against Hegseth, questioning the grounds for the impeachment effort and insisting that it was not primarily driven by the administration’s military campaign against Iran.

“Has Pete Hegseth committed impeachable crimes? The question is absurd and the answer is: obviously not,” Vance wrote. The vice president, who is seen as a potential Republican presidential contender in 2028, also criticized what he described as the growing politicization of impeachment proceedings.

Vance argued that impeachment had increasingly become a political exercise rather than a meaningful tool for addressing policy disagreements. He said the process had “become a ridiculous show that stands in for actual policymaking,” drawing parallels with the two impeachment proceedings faced by President Donald Trump during his first term.

“Congress did the same to Donald Trump,” Vance said, adding that “Impeachments are easy (and ultimately, inconsequential).” He further suggested that lawmakers' objections to Hegseth were rooted in his broader changes to the US military establishment rather than his handling of the Iran conflict.

“The irony is that legislators are most angry at Pete on the issues where he’s most correct: repositioning forces away from Europe/Ukraine and reorganizing the general officer corps,” Vance wrote. “This isn’t about Iran, this is about the fact that Pete took on the bureaucracy at the Pentagon,” he added.

Hegseth also pushed back against the impeachment effort, describing it as a politically motivated move during a news conference at the Pentagon on Tuesday. “It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt and everybody knows it,” the defense secretary said, referring to the initiative led by Republican Rep.

Thomas Massie. Hegseth warned that the attempt to impeach him could send the wrong signal to US adversaries internationally, portraying the move as an unnecessary distraction at a time of heightened military tensions. He also compared the proceedings to the two unsuccessful impeachment attempts against Trump during his first presidency.

Trump was first impeached in 2019 over his dealings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The second impeachment followed the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The impeachment push is being led by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who reintroduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth on Monday.

The resolution cites the administration's military actions, including the ongoing war with Iran, along with other decisions involving the use of US military power under Trump's direction. According to the House's daily floor schedule, lawmakers could take up Massie's resolution as early as 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday.