Hegseth’s “maximum lethality” comes back to haunt him

Even if the defense secretary isn’t impeached, his deviant philosophy deserves more scrutiny. This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here . In a matter of days, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could join a very exclusive club: Only two other Cabinet members have ever been impeached by the House…and one of them died 136 years ago. Such impeachments are exceedingly rare because Congress generally treats them as a last resort — and because presidents can dismiss misbehaving officials themselves. But President Donald Trump has stuck by Hegseth through all his multitudinous misjudgments, from his cringe obsession with the Crusades to deadly strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean . Lawmakers will consider several of those alleged misdeeds when they vote on advancing Hegseth’s impeachment at 5:30 pm Eastern. Thomas Massie, a Republican — specifically allege eight offenses, several of them related to the war in Iran and the fact that Congress never authorized it. Hegseth is unlikely to be ousted, however, even if the House votes to impeach. (The Senate has a higher threshold for conviction, and it’s never removed a Cabinet secretary.) But the Republican-led push to impeach Hegseth is still a striking rebuke of both the man and his uber-macho, unrepentant military philosophy. And that philosophy deserves our scrutiny, regardless of whether Hegseth keeps his job: It’s a matter of life or death.