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By The Associated Press
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed the impeachment effort against him Tuesday, using his first news conference at the Pentagon in six months to deliver a defiant and politicized defense of his stewardship of the U.S. military.
Hegseth framed the impeachment effort as a “political spectacle” that undermines U.S. troops by targeting him over mere “policy disagreements” — not the high crimes required in the Constitution for his possible removal.
A day earlier, Rep. Thomas Massie launched a bid to impeach Hegseth over his handling of the unpopular war against Iran and other military actions. Massie, who lost his GOP primary in Kentucky to a Trump-backed opponent, read the impeachment resolution from the House floor just hours after it opened for the first day of sessions after the midterms. A House vote on whether to move forward with the impeachment is expected later Tuesday.
Here’s the latest:
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio elected to lead House Republicans in the minority
Jordan won the race Tuesday to serve as House Republican leader as the GOP prepares for its new role in the minority.
Jordan, who serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, defeated Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana in a secret ballot election of Republicans who will serve in the next Congress. The vote was 106-73.
Jordan, 62, is a co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and served as its first chairman. His candidacy appealed to those looking for new leadership in the wake of last week’s election debacle and to those who like his hard-hitting political style. Jordan warned of the coming Democratic efforts on oversight, with numerous investigations of the Trump administration expected.
Trump nominates Justice Department official to civil rights panel after firing Democrat
Trump’s nomination of Matt Zandi to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission signals the administration will forge ahead with its overhaul of civil rights enforcement, underpinned by targeting diversity and inclusion policies.
Zandi currently serves as chief of staff for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which saw the mass departure of career lawyers as it shifted to investigating diversity policies which the administration believes discriminate against white workers and others.
Zandi was nominated to fill a seat previously held by Jocelyn Samuels, one of two Democratic commissioners fired by Trump before the end of their terms in an unprecedented move to seize control of the EEOC, a bipartisan agency created by Congress through the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
US and China will act in their own interests on AI, Rubio says in the shadow of Nvidia scandal
Rubio was asked about whether Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with an alleged Chinese government agent would affect U.S.-China talks to regulate AI.
“I think that the Chinese system is always going to act in the best interest of the Chinese system, and the United States will always act in the best interest of the United States,” Rubio told reporters after a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris. “So we’re going to do whatever it takes.”
Rubio says the U.S. is “realistic and open-eyed” about differences between the world’s two leading AI powers.
Conversations to set up guardrails on AI are at “a technical level,” Rubio said. He noted that it’s certainly a topic for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping when they meet next week in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Trump nominates a top Justice Department official to become federal judge
The nomination of Elliot Gaiser to serve on the bench for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas could leave the Justice Department with another key vacancy amid a wave of departures after the midterm elections.
Gaiser was sworn in last year as assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel, which writes opinions on thorny legal questions for the executive branch.
Under Gaiser, a former solicitor general of Ohio, the Office of Legal Counsel has weighed in on issues ranging from gun rights to the U.S. military operation that removed Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro from power.
Trump said in a social media post that “Texas will appreciate having such a talented and intelligent Judge on their Federal Bench.”
The Justice Department has seen several high-ranking departures over the last week, including the resignations of three division leaders at Washington headquarters.
Rubio says Hegseth carried out orders from Trump
Asked about the impeachment effort against the Pentagon chief, the secretary of state defended Hegseth by saying he had worked to “execute on a direct order from the commander in chief” when it came to Iran, strikes on alleged drug boats in Latin America and more.
Rubio, who is also the national security adviser, told reporters after a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris that Trump has a right “to address imminent threats” against the United States.
He said Iran’s threats and boats that smuggle drugs into the U.S. fall into that category, referring to a campaign of deadly military strikes on vessels since last year.
In the January capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Rubio again insisted it “was in many cases a law enforcement operation because he was a fugitive of American justice who was captured” on drug trafficking charges.
Vance weighs in on looming Hegseth impeachment
The vice president wrote in a social media post that the answer to whether Hegseth committed impeachable crimes is “obviously not.”
Vance argued that lawmakers backing a Hegseth impeachment were using the tool to register policy disagreements rather than for high crimes and misdemeanors.
“They did the same to Donald Trump,” Vance wrote. “Legislation is hard. Impeachments are easy (and ultimately, inconsequential).”
Vance argued that lawmakers were most upset with Hegseth for his efforts to reposition U.S. troops out of Europe, not for the Iran war.
Senate Republicans leave leadership meeting with no resolution on Thune’s future
Senate Republicans met Tuesday to discuss their future and were expected to reconvene in the afternoon as they decide whether to keep South Dakota Sen. John Thune as their leader. The meetings come just a week after major losses in midterm elections that cost them their majority.
Thune is still expected to be reelected, given that he remains popular with his GOP colleagues and is so far running unopposed. But senators left the meeting after two hours of discussions with no resolution on a way forward.
Some senators had said beforehand that it was too soon after the election for a vote on leadership.
“We want to be thoughtful and do the right thing,” said West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice as the meeting broke up.
Johnson calls Hegseth impeachment effort ‘shameful’
House Speaker Mike Johnson is blasting the effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, calling it a “political gambit for attention” and “shameful.”
“The idea that you would impeach the secretary of war at a time of international conflict sends a terrible message to our enemies and our allies, and we are not going to play that game,” Johnson told reporters.
Johnson said he also watched most of Hegseth’s news conference in which the secretary gave a defiant and politicized defense of his stewardship of the U.S. military.
“I thought he did very well,” Johnson said, before predicting that Republicans would defeat the impeachment effort “one way or the other.”
Decision to hold a Trump-Putin-Xi meeting may come soon, Rubio says
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday confirmed Trump’s intent to hold three-way talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin when the U.S. president is in Shenzhen next week.
“We’re working to organize it and to frame it in the appropriate way,” Rubio said. “And hopefully, you know, we’ll have some news for you about that fairly soon.”
Trump believes the three sides should discuss “the status of nuclear weapons in the world,” as the president thinks nuclear proliferation is dangerous, Rubio said.
The meeting would be historic, though foreign policy experts warn that the three sides, with conflicting interests, are unlikely to hold substantive discussions.
Beijing does not like to engage in discussions on nuclear weapons, while Russia seeks to undermine U.S. support for Ukraine.
John Thune seeks another term as Senate Republican leader
Thune is expected to be reelected, given that he remains popular with his GOP colleagues and is running unopposed. But some Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday for the first time since the election wipeout that cost them at least seven seats said it’s too soon to endorse the status quo.
“We need to have some real soul-searching,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who circulated a letter to the conference asking to delay the closed-door, secret-ballot leadership elections. “We can’t just continue on business as usual — that kind of defeat demands change.”
Still, Johnson conceded that there’s no one else on the ballot.
The angst comes as the party is beginning to reckon with what the election results mean for GOP lawmakers and how soon they can try to rebuild their ranks. Two additional races remain uncalled in Alaska and Mississippi that could further deplete their numbers.
Thune made clear Monday that leadership is moving ahead with Senate elections, which include contests for other party leaders.