Impeaching Hegseth is dead for now, but vultures will be circling

Résumé détaillé

It's hard to identify an American administration that hasn’t illegally invaded or bombed another country at some point. But Pete Hegseth's actions really put the nation's exceptionalist crassness up in lights.

Pete Hegseth, the US Secretary of War, has distinguished himself as one of the most cartoonishly offensive members of Donald Trump’s cabinet of grotesques. His penchant for bravado and open bloodlust (it was his idea to execute a guy in a wheelchair on live TV) is what inspires Donald Trump to defend his record, the president insisting he won a war with Venezuela and “is winning” the one against Iran.

With the midterm carnage and Democrat control of both houses of Congress, those same qualities have had Hegseth in the sights for a reckoning. “A hard yes” is what incoming Democratic speaker of the house Hakeem Jeffries said about the prospect of Hegseth’s impeachment.

Congressman Thomas Massie, who is a Republican and on his way out (he lost his primary), had re-presented eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth, while Democrats have previously lodged resolutions with similar impeachment claims. Today, the effort was blocked by a 211-204 vote in the US House of Representatives.

However, come January, the Democrats will have the numbers to push impeachment through the House; it isn’t going away. The biggest criminal in the Trump administration remains the president himself, but the Democrats are unlikely to pursue his impeachment again — he’s politically more useful to them as a lame duck whom they can blame for the inevitable legislative logjam the next two years will deliver. Instead, their tactical choice may be to go for some lower-hanging fruit, and Hegseth is overripe.

Impeachment, which sits outside the courts, is a constitutional process designed by the Founding Fathers to give the legislative branch of government (Congress) some teeth in its oversight of the executive branch. An analogy in Australia’s democracy is parliament’s exclusive power to remove judges and some public servants, such as the director of public prosecutions, from office.

By continuing, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

In the US, it’s a two-step process.

If the House…

C…

Début de l'article, extrait de Crikey. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.