US Senator-elect El-Sayed urges Hegseth to resign

US Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed called Tuesday on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign after the House of Representatives voted 211-204 to send a resolution to impeach him to committee, effectively killing the bid.

“Why are you still doing this job? You are really bad at this. You are failing your responsibility. You have mishandled this war,” El-Sayed said during an interview with CNN, speaking directly to Hegseth.

“So just resign. Make it easy for everybody instead of, in the end, getting taken out, because that is clearly what’s happening,” he added.

Asked about the 11 Democrats who did not show up for the vote, El-Sayed said: “You should show up and do your job.”

He linked the Iran war to rising costs for Americans.

“Everywhere I went in Michigan, the big questions were: Why does it cost me $80 to fill my truck? And why can’t I afford a second pound of ground beef at the grocery store? And that goes back to one issue, which is this insane war that we have no business fighting,” he said.

El-Sayed said he would “assess any impeachment that is done on its own merits” but added: “It’s really quite clear that Pete Hegseth is failing his responsibilities as Secretary of Defense.”

He also called for ending the war, describing it as “illegal, immoral and unethical.”

Hegseth dismissed efforts to impeach him at a Pentagon news conference earlier Tuesday.

“It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt and everybody knows it,” he said. “These are not high crimes. This is the job, and it’s the job well done.”

The vote came a week after Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.