Congress Returns With Hegseth Impeachment Vote Expected, Leadership Fights and a December Funding Deadline

Congress comes back to Washington on Monday for the first time since an election that took away the House from the Republicans, and the first order of business may be a vote nobody in leadership wanted. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who is leaving office, plans to reintroduce his articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as early as today.

We reported on Friday that Massie was readying the articles for the House's return, in our piece on Hegseth vowing to stay. What has changed since then is the arithmetic, and the Democrats.

Will the House vote to impeach Pete Hegseth?

Massie's resolution is privileged, which means that once he raises it on the floor, leaders must schedule a vote within two legislative days, ABC News reported. It contains eight articles that accuse Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973, among other alleged offenses tied to the war with Iran.

On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told ABC's "This Week" that he is "a hard yes" and that Hegseth "has got to go." He said Democrats would discuss the resolution at their caucus meeting on Tuesday morning and predicted "incredibly strong support." Hegseth has called the effort a sham. Trump has said he intends to keep him.

The Republican side is the unknown. Axios reported on Sunday that GOP leaders are bracing for enough defections to pass it, and that members who lost their seats on Tuesday have little left to lose, according to a summary of the Axios report. Retiring Representative Don Bacon said Hegseth lacks much love on Capitol Hill and described himself as undecided. A simple majority is enough to impeach. No count of Republican defectors has been published, and leaders could still try to table the resolution or send it to committee.