GOP’s Midterm Massacre Makes Hegseth’s Impeachment All But Certain: Political Scientist
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth leaves the stage after addressing a media conference at a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Feb. 13, 2025. 
Republicans’ historic wipeout in Tuesday’s vote puts President Trump “in a very difficult position,” has “effectively ended the political career of JD Vance,” who’s “just to close to the president” to wash away the stain of the defeat, and puts other officials including Secretary of War Hegseth in danger, political scientist Joe Siracusa says.Going forward, Democrats in control of both houses will be certain to launch investigations into the president and his officials, try to impeach him for a third time, and work out a variety of means to constrain his power, including through the power of the purse, the Curtin University dean of Global Futures told Sputnik.Amid the chaos, Dr. Siracusa doesn’t rule out a Nixon-style resignation come February or March, and Vance being asked “to make the best he can” of the remainder of his term.
Expect Extremely Icy Relationship Between White House, Congress
“I see very little common ground between the Trump administration and the incoming Democratic majority,” Siracusa noted.“There’s a lot of bad blood over the last couple years,” with the president going “to great lengths to humiliate” the opposition, ruling by executive order, and instructing “his leaders in the House and Senate not to cooperate,” he recalled.
President Will Hang On to His Foreign Policy Powers
“In the area of foreign policy, the president will have, I think, pretty much free reign to do or to continue what he’s doing,” and there’s “very little” the incoming Democratic majority in Congress will be able to do to stop him, Siracusa said.“He’s got a State Department who represent him around the world,” and “in addition to being commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the president also can conduct diplomacy himself…and he likes to do that kind of thing,” Siracusa said. That means whether it’s Ukraine, Iran, Israel, etc., US foreign policy will remain his domain.
Hegseth’s Impeachment All But Certain
Democrats “will certainly impeach the Secretary of War…They’re going to impeach him for conducting a war without proper authorization. They’re going to impeach him for lying about things, for demoralizing the Armed Forces by firing all those generals,” Siracusa told Sputnik.“There is a great dislike” of Hegseth in Washington, and Siracusa doesn’t rule out “enough Republicans” joining Democrats in the Senate to convict and remove him. “Hegseth will be leaving town if he’s really smart.” If not, he could lose everything and even face prison time.With the numbers they have, Democrats “can impeach anybody they want. They can investigate anybody they want. They can subpoena anybody they want,” Siracusa emphasized.
