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Hegseth Demands $350B for Military, Fires Back at Dem Impeachment Push

Pete Hegseth called on Congress to pass at least $350 billion in military reconciliation funds and dismissed House impeachment articles as a sham.

ByPeter
Official portrait of Pete Hegseth in a dark pinstripe suit and striped tie before the U.S. and Defense flags
Official portrait of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Jan. 27, 2025. Photo: Chad J. McNeeley, U.S. Department of Defense, public domain.

By Sentinel, War Room Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2026 — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Thursday urged Congress to approve at least $350 billion in additional defense funding through a budget-reconciliation bill and dismissed a looming House effort to impeach him as political theater. In a video posted to X, he said, “We need every vote from every patriotic member of Congress.”

Fox News reported that he called for a reconciliation bill of that size to strengthen the military and the defense industrial base. The same video rejected impeachment articles that Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., first read into the Congressional Record in September and has said he will force to a vote when the House returns. President Donald Trump told ABC News the same day, “I have every intention to keep him.”

What the $350 billion request is

The figure is not a new supplemental for the Iran war. It is the mandatory-funding piece of the administration’s fiscal 2027 defense request, presented in April as a $1.5 trillion package — a 42 percent increase from 2026 resource levels.

A White House fact sheet said the budget includes $1.1 trillion in base discretionary authority for the Department of War and “a request for $350 billion in additional mandatory resources through reconciliation” for priorities “such as increasing access to critical munitions and further expansion of the defense industrial base.” Reconciliation bills can pass the Senate with a simple majority. The department’s April 21 release quoted Hegseth saying the budget delivers on “President Trump’s commitment to expand American military dominance for decades to come,” and listed $756.8 billion for new capabilities and an $18 billion start on the Golden Dome homeland missile-defense system.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, reviewing the request in August, said the reconciliation package called for about $113 billion for the defense industrial base, including more than $48 billion for critical minerals; about $103 billion for next-generation technology and autonomy; $47 billion for munitions; and $36 billion in a “Warrior Ethos” category that includes housing and facilities. CSIS separately described a June White House supplemental of $87.6 billion, including about $67.1 billion for the Defense Department, framed largely around Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. name for the war with Iran.

Congress has not enacted the reconciliation request. CSIS reported that a House-passed fiscal 2027 budget resolution, H. Con. Res. 113, provided $60 billion in mandatory defense funds, well below the administration’s figure. Hegseth made the same ask on Sept. 30 in his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico: “It is imperative that Congress pass a $350B reconciliation package for our warriors.”

Eight impeachment articles, led by a Republican

The articles Hegseth called a sham were offered on the House floor on Sept. 15 by Massie, a Republican who lost his party’s primary in May after Trump endorsed a rival. The Congressional Record text would impeach “Peter Brian Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, also referred to as ‘Secretary of War’ by the administration,” for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Three of the eight articles accuse him of violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973 in the Iran war: starting hostilities without a declaration of war, statutory authorization or an attack on the United States; continuing them after Congress adopted H. Con. Res. 86, which directed the removal of U.S. forces from those hostilities; and continuing them after the law’s 60-day clock, and any extra 30-day withdrawal period, had expired. Congress.gov records that the House agreed to that resolution, sponsored by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., on June 3 by a vote of 215-208 and that the Senate agreed on June 23 by a vote of 50-48. The administration has not withdrawn forces under it.

The other articles allege that Hegseth ignored statutes meant to limit civilian casualties; replaced maritime drug enforcement with lethal military strikes that, Massie said, killed at least 221 people; used the department to retaliate against Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., over a video telling service members they can refuse illegal orders; directed Operation Absolute Resolve to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores without congressional authority; and launched Operation Rough Rider in Yemen without authorization.

In a House statement, Massie said, “By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable.” Those are accusations in a proposed resolution; the House has not voted on them. Hegseth and the Pentagon have denied wrongdoing. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that “the Department of War has followed the law” and that Hegseth will not be “deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists.”

Massie told ABC News on Wednesday that he intends to reintroduce the resolution Monday or Tuesday and believes enough Republicans will defect for it to pass. He told Roll Call in late October that he gave it “better than a 50 percent chance,” asking, “Will all the Democrats vote for it? I think the answer to that is yes.” Fox News reported that several House Republicans think a privileged vote could pass; one, speaking anonymously, said, “He’s screwed.” Others told Fox they doubted it would succeed.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York posted on X on Thursday, “Why is Pete Hegseth still around?” Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that ousting him would be “priority No. 1” if Democrats retake the majority, according to Roll Call. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., expected to lead the House Armed Services Committee next year, told CNN last month that Hegseth is “not qualified for the job, and he should be removed.” The Fox News Decision Desk projected on Tuesday night that Democrats had taken the House. ABC News’s projections on Thursday showed Democrats gaining the Senate. The new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.

Hegseth’s response

Hegseth did not name Massie. He said, “A disgruntled, defeated congressman along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly.” Hannity.com reported that he compared the effort to the two impeachments of Trump and said, “Their policies don’t work, so their obsession with political theater, disguised as power, drives them to try to destroy their opponents.”

“They attack me, they attack us, because we are effective,” he said. “It’s not gonna work.” He added, “Just like the president, we don’t back down and that especially applies now.” He said the department had “ripped out DEI” and “fired failed leaders,” and that “we ended the weird and the woke and elevated patriots in strength.” On Iran, he called the campaign “a courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”

He closed: “Don’t blink. Ignore the noise. Never hesitate.” And: “We will not back down. We put America and the warfighter first, always and without apology.”

Trump told ABC News he had received calls about Hegseth: “I get these calls, you know, about him. I don’t understand why.” He called Massie “a very bad guy” and “very destructive.” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital, “If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people.”

What happens next

Massie plans to give notice of a question of the privileges of the House. If the resolution qualifies, the speaker would have up to two legislative days to schedule a vote. Leaders can instead seek to table it, which would kill it. A House vote would not remove Hegseth; removal would require conviction in a Senate trial. Roll Call noted that the House has impeached a Cabinet secretary only twice: William Belknap in 1876 and Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024.

The funding request faces a separate clock. Reconciliation can move with only a majority, but the amount Hegseth sought on Thursday already runs well ahead of the $60 billion defense figure in the House’s earlier budget resolution. After January, any further attempt would need the new Congress to agree on a budget resolution first.

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