Bacon ‘torn’ over whether to back Hegseth impeachment

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a centrist Republican retiring from the Congress who has criticized President Trump on foreign policy and other matters, on Monday said he is conflicted about the effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth being led by a fellow GOP lawmaker.

“The areas that concern me the most about the secretary aren’t in the articles of impeachment,” Bacon told CNN’s Manu Raju in a video posted to the social platform X, referencing an effort from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) for impeachment.

“The firing and redlining of 80 generals and flag — or admirals, the — withholding appropriated money all year for Ukraine,” he added.

“I’m not the only one that feels that way, there’s a bunch of us that have been talking about it,” Bacon added. “So, this is, you know, Congressman Massie’s impeachment, he’s got more of a libertarian spirit to his write–up. And I think some of us don’t feel comfortable with his justifications, but I think there’s other ones out there. So, that’s what I’m grappling with.”

Bacon, in response to a direct question, said he was torn on the issue.

He said he would “be more inclined to” back articles of impeachment that touched more directly on his own reasons for feeling uneasy about Hegseth, and that he would also support Hegseth’s resignation.

On Monday, Massie followed through on a promise to bring articles of impeachment targeting Hegseth. The Kentucky Republican read the articles out loud on the House floor a little after 2 p.m.

Earlier Monday, Hegseth said he wasn’t “worried “ about Massie’s effort and said he would have a press conference the following morning on the matter.

The impeachment effort comes after Republicans suffered massive defeats in last week’s midterm elections.

Over the weekend , President Trump expressed concerns over some Democrats pushing for the impeachment of Republican officials. The president called the threats “extortion at the highest level” and requested the Justice Department “look into this.”

“The Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people … with Impeachment and many other forms of punishment, even though they admit they have no reason to do so, and there have been no impeachable acts committed, or even thought of, by the victims of this illegal process,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday.

The Hill has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.