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El-Sayed tells Hegseth to resign after impeachment effort fails: ‘Make it easy for everybody’
Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed urged US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to resign, saying he had mishandled the war and was failing in his responsibilities. His comments followed a failed effort to impeach Hegseth, while he also criticised 11 absent Democrats and linked the Iran war to voters’ concerns about affordability.
The House voted 211-204 to send Rep. Thomas Massie’s impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee, avoiding a full impeachment vote. El-Sayed said he would assess any future impeachment effort on its merits; Hegseth defended US operations in Iran, Venezuela and Yemen as lawful and called the effort a political spectacle.
In short
- El-Sayed told Hegseth to resign after the impeachment effort stalled.
- The House voted 211-204 to refer the resolution to committee.
- Hegseth defended the military operations as lawful.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
El-Sayed’s call for Hegseth to resign reflects the view that a senior defence official should be held accountable if his handling of a war shows poor judgement or a failure to meet his responsibilities. Supporters may argue that resignation would restore confidence and that scrutiny of military conduct is a legitimate duty of Congress, even when an impeachment effort does not advance.
The case against
Hegseth and his supporters may argue that he should remain in office while carrying out operations he says are lawful, rather than resign in response to a politically charged, unsuccessful impeachment effort. They may also contend that the House committee referral was an appropriate step for examining the allegations and that accountability should rest on evidence and due process, not pressure to leave office.