Jeffries: Trump Must Push Hegseth Aside or Democrats Will Act

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is signaling that Democrats will go after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if they win the House majority on Nov. 3, according to an interview he gave MS NOW that was published Monday.

“Pete Hegseth needs to be pushed aside by the president, or we’re going to have to deal with that situation if he is not,” Jeffries told MS NOW’s Ali Vitali after a campaign rally in Peekskill, New York, on Saturday, according to the outlet.

Impeachment Watch '27:

"Pete Hegseth needs to be pushed aside by the president, or we’re going to have to deal with that situation if he is not." — Hakeem Jeffries to @alivitalihttps://t.co/jYan5PHxJk

— Jack Fitzpatrick 🍂 (@jackfitzdc) October 26, 2026

At that rally, Jeffries vowed to “run Pete Hegseth out of town,” MS NOW reported. Asked afterward what that meant in practice, Jeffries said Democrats would hold Hegseth accountable “in the same way that we held Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem accountable,” according to the interview. MS NOW noted that it was President Trump, not Congress, who pushed out both Bondi as attorney general and Noem as homeland security secretary.

The Hill reported Monday that the remarks are the closest the New York Democrat has come to endorsing impeachment, which is the only tool Congress has to remove a Cabinet secretary.

No commitment on the impeachment vote

Pressed on whether he would support the impeachment resolution expected on the House floor shortly after the election, Jeffries did not give a direct answer, according to MS NOW. “What I’m inclined to do is to act consistently with what I’ve said relative to Pete Hegseth from the very beginning: I called for Pete Hegseth to be fired by Donald Trump in the spring of 2025. He is deeply unqualified,” Jeffries said, according to The Hill.

The resolution was filed in September by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, according to The Hill.” Congress will vote on Hegseth’s impeachment when lawmakers return to Capitol Hill next month, The Hill reported.

In the MS NOW interview, Jeffries blamed Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans for leaving Washington rather than taking up the Massie resolution before the election, saying Democrats had not yet had a chance to weigh in on it.

Democrats’ midterm message

The Hill reported that Democrats have zeroed in on Hegseth as high gas prices tied to the Iran war have become a campaign talking point. According to MS NOW, Jeffries is pitching a two-part message on the trail built around affordability and accountability, and he said he is confident Democrats will win back the House, though he would not discuss margins or formally say he is running for speaker.

Conservatives on X quickly seized on the remarks. Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet argued in a post on X that Jeffries offered no clear grounds for impeaching Hegseth.

For Republicans, the comments offer a preview of what a Democratic House could prioritize in its first weeks: a fight over Trump’s Cabinet just as the administration weighs its next moves on Iran.

Election Day is Nov. 3.

Sources

• MS NOW: Hakeem Jeffries is on the verge of the speakership
• The Hill: Jeffries says Democrats will deal with Hegseth if Trump doesn’t
• Andrew Kolvet on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.