Pete Hegseth, the US Defense (War) Secretary, has denounced Thomas Massie's eight articles of impeachment at his Pentagon briefing on 10 November, his first news conference there since May, according to Reuters.
"It's a farce, and it's a stunt, and everybody knows it."
"This is not patriotism. This is sabotage," he said, Reuters reports. He told Bloomberg he was "proud to execute" his orders in Iran and the Western Hemisphere, "and I would do it again".
Hegseth claimed "More than 13,000 targets struck" and "More than 80% of their nuclear industrial base gone", ABC News reports. These figures have not been independently checked. He called the blockade of Iranian ports "ironclad".
Asked about the war's role in the Republican midterm defeat, he acknowledged it is "not necessarily popular", according to ABC News.
According to CBS, Hegseth described the impeachment effort as a first step towards action against service members who took part in strikes on alleged drug boats. CBS says the House is expected to take up the resolution on Tuesday evening, but will likely first hold a procedural vote to table it.
Trump said on 9 November he will stand by Hegseth if he is impeached, Al Jazeera reports.