Impeachment Won’t Undo Hegseth’s Christian Nationalist Remake of Defense Dept

Sensational Republican losses in the midterms might spell completion of Pete Hegseth’s period as the secretary of defense. From Vice President JD Vance to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), Hegseth’s own celebration is setting him approximately take the fall for election losses blamed on the U.S. war with Iran.

In a rambling post on X on November 4, Vance stated the factor the GOP lost was “apparent to nearly everybody.” He never ever called Iran or Hegseth, he yielded that Republicans didn’t listen to citizens’ needs to “end the war.”

Massie has actually gone even further. On November 9, he reestablished posts of impeachment versus Hegseth– short articles he had actually currently submitted this September — mentioning Hegseth’s infractions of the War Powers Resolution, to name a few charges.

“We’re not prosecuting him for being bad at his task,” Massie stated at an interview about the impeachment. “In reality, he was extremely reliable at eliminating schoolchildren in Iran. He was extremely efficient at extrajudicial killings.”

On November 8, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) revealed his assistance of Massie’s proposed resolution, stating “Pete Hegseth has actually got to go.”

Hegseth is standing his ground. At a interview todayHegseth blasted Massie, calling him “a single rogue lawmaker filled with individual animus for the president.” Hegseth described his own performance history as “legal” and “effective.”

And in his video post on November 5Hegseth had actually asserted that the war with Iran “is a bold and historical effort,” including, “We do not pull back, which particularly uses now.” Amidst sycophantic declarations about Donald Trump’s management, Hegseth likewise attracted Congress to continue moneying the so-called Department of War and to dismiss individuals like Massie, whom Hegseth called “consumed” with him.

The Damage Has Been Done

Whether Hegseth takes the fall for Trump’s brand-new permanently war with Iran, the damage has actually currently been done, consisting of the countless civilian casualties and the far-flung expense of living crisis it intensified.

Andrew Whiteheada sociologist, scholar of religious beliefs, and author of the 2024 book, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Churchinformed Truthout that “the consequences of stating this war will still be felt even if it ends tomorrow.”

On February 28, 2026, a U.S. attack on a ladies school in Minab, Iran, eliminated more than 150 civilians, the majority of them kids. That attack wasn’t an abnormality. According to the National Iranian American Council, the U.S. has actually targeted civilian facilities consisting of lots of airports, numerous university hospital, and over 1,300 schools.

In addition to supervising “Operation Epic Fury,” Hegseth was accountable for slashing the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, which would have examined the attacksby 90 percent.

The war with Iran has actually likewise deepened the U.S. energy crisis, and as the winter season techniques, the National Energy Assistance Directors Association forecasts that energy expenses will increase as much as 50 percentThe group’s executive director, Mark Wolfe, composes, “At some point the war in Iran will end, however the cost crisis will not end with it.”

With or without Hegseth, Trump’s choice to go to war likewise even more reduced the stature of the United States on the worldwide phase. “Those bonds of global trust are not quickly restored,” Whitehead stated.

That disintegration of trust likewise underlies Massie’s short articles of impeachment versus Hegseth. In addition to pointing out the unconstitutionality of the war in Iran, Massie indicates a variety of global actions taken under Hegseth’s instructions: extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Pacific; the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro, a sovereign leader; and the U.S.’s little-discussed “Operation Rough Rider” project in Yemen.

By the Numbers

Hegseth makes an engaging scapegoat for Republican losses. It’s not difficult to see why numerous Americans would appear to the tally box to vote out GOP leaders who supported the war in Iran, as several surveys pointed to the war in Iran as a primary concern for citizens.

The Christian Right continues to stand behind Hegseth’s brand name of Christian nationalism. It is still too early to have accurate numbers, Whitehead states Christian nationalists are “a strong political force, even though they’re a minority.”

Individuals who highly relate to Christian nationalism represent about 10 percent of the U.S. populationaccording to current information from the general public Religion Research Institute. “But when we take a look at the portion of the voting population, it increases. They’re punching above their weight,” Whitehead stated. “Even though they’re a little number, they enact high numbers, like 80-90 percent.”

This group likewise has an undeviating loyalty to Trump, who has actually cozied approximately evangelical leaders and published images of himself as Jesus. “They can’t envision not electing Republicans. It’s the only Christian thing to do,” Whitehead stated. They think the U.S. is a Christian country they need to protect, and “it’s a lot more significant due to the fact that they’re acknowledging that they are a minority which encourages them.”

Holy Authority

Throughout his period, Hegseth has actually represented the most fanatical aspects of the Trump administration, playing into the rhetoric of Christian nationalism, Christian spiritual persecution, and holy war.

In September, Hegseth revealed the Pentagon’s brand-new “Office of Religious Affairs,” which will funnel higher resources to military pastors, agreement with faith-based entities, and assistance faith-based homeschooling for military households, to name a few activities. The statement is clear not to single out a specific faith, Hegseth has a particular vision of the U.S. as a Christian country– a vision he shares with his extremist coach Doug Wilson, who thinks females should not have the right to vote, and his faith consultant Ryan Higginswhose racist and homophobic posts were exposed last month.

In his September “State of the Force” address, Hegseth preached a jingoist message to soldiers, to whom he frequently describes as “warfighters.” Pricing quote a passage from the book of Isaiah (a prophetic text composed in the 8th century BCE), Hegseth intoned, “Lord, here I am, send me.” He then included: “Send me to combat the Red Coats. Send me to combat the Communists. Send me to combat the Islamists. Send me.”

Hegseth’s “send me” message began as a social networks project that covers military service in the veneer of a Christian magnificent objective. His September address shows how other faiths (Islam) or political ideologies (communism) are unwanted in his Christian nationalist worldview.

The message of Christian nationalism is not an unknown one in the U.S. armed force, however it has its critics. Retired Army Maj. Gen. William Razz Waff, an episcopal priest, informed the American Homefront Project last month that the increase of evangelical pastors under Hegseth’s watch has him “extremely worried that we’re going to have this funnel of evangelical Christianity, one taste, and everyone is going to get fire-hosed with this.”

Christian nationalists like Hegseth prosper in hierarchical companies like the armed force. They have “a vision of society that is highly hierarchical, guys on top with ladies sending,” Whitehead stated. They “desire violence as an indication of their masculinity and an opponent they can combat and control.”

In the months leading up to the midterm election, Hegseth was hectic lining up spiritual authority with political authority. He likewise connected his messaging about the war in Iran to masculinity. “In social networks and in all sectors of the federal government,” Christian nationalists “are hectic carrying out strong males,” Whitehead stated.

This perspective is losing ground. Whitehead indicates a sluggish decrease in Christian nationalist sympathizers integrated with Democratic gains, even in Republican districts“while that group might be diminishing, it is being distilled to its real followers,” Whitehead informed Truthout

Include the Religious Left

The “blue wave” will put Democratic prospects who campaigned on their faith or a message of spiritual pluralism into workplace. Political Leaders like Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-Texas) utilized the Christian bible to protect abortion rights and the taking apart the billionaire class. Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Michigan) sustained hostile analysis of his Muslim faith and in action to fearmongering used a stirring defense of spiritual liberty and the separation of church and state.

Talarico and El-Sayed likewise depict a various variation of masculinity than the progressively caricatured machismo of Hegseth, who called military testosterone screening a “spiritual task” for soldiers.

“So you see Abdul El-Sayed discussing being a servant leader and James Talarico discussing trimming his next-door neighbor’s yard without requesting for anything, which’s what it indicates to be a male,” Whitehead stated.

“I believe it was truly crucial that the political left and individuals outside the GOP speak about masculinity and methods of being manly that aren’t simply the manner ins which the right was carrying out,” Whitehead stated.

While it stays to be seen what Congress will make with their brand-new Democratic bulks, there is tentative hope that what reporter Grace Panetta called the “masculinity midtermswill put in location more pluralistic visions of faith and masculinity. “I’m actually interested to see how this brand-new Congress will progress with responsibility, with examination,” Whitehead stated. If Congress progresses to hold Hegseth responsible, it will take more than impeachment to guarantee that his tradition of Christian nationalism is rooted out. It would be a start.