Thomas Massie Is Right To Impeach Pete Hegseth
Plus: Stephen Miller's promotion to White House chief of staff, Democrats' push for progressive policies, and the emerging 2028 presidential field.
This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch discuss Rep. Thomas Massie's (R–Ky.) push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. They debate whether removing Hegseth would help bring the war in Iran to an end, why President Donald Trump bears ultimate responsibility for his administration's actions, and whether Congress will finally assert its authority over military decisions.
The conversation turns to Trump's decision to replace White House chief of staff Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller, and what the move signals about the administration's response to its crushing midterm defeat. The editors then examine whether Democrats are misreading their electoral mandate as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) calls for expanding Medicare and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) prepares to target major corporations. Later, they discuss the early contenders for the 2028 presidential election, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D–Ga.). Finally, a listener asks whether Americans should take greater pride in the country's ability to conduct free and fair elections.
0:00—Will Pete Hegseth be impeached?
8:43—Stephen Miller becomes chief of staff
20:27—Trump's 60 Minutes interview
26:27—Will Democrats overplay their hand?
32:02—Listener question on fair elections
37:15—The 2028 presidential election
41:26—FIRE Soapbox 2026
49:51—Weekly cultural recommendations
Upcoming Reason Events
Reason Versus—Authoritarianism Is a Right-Wing Problem, November 10
Mentioned in the Podcast:
"Impeach Pete Hegseth," by Ilya Somin
"Impeach Pete Hegseth for the Disastrous Iran War," by Gene Healy
"How Murdering Suspected Drug Smugglers Became the New Normal," by Jacob Sullum
"As Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller Will Reinforce Trump's Worst Instincts," by Jacob Sullum
"Trump Orders Justice Department To Investigate His Congressional Critics, Saying They Deserve 'Imprisonment,'" by Jacob Sullum
"Trump's Immigration Indecision," by Liz Wolfe
"Yes, the Midterms Were About the Iran War," by Matthew Petti
"How Did Republicans Lose This Badly? Voters Turned Against Trump's Tariffs," by Eric Boehm
"Bernie Sanders Wants To Use Democrats' Midterm Victory To Expand Medicare. Has He Looked at Europe?" by Reem Ibrahim
"America Did Not Vote for Woke 2.0," by Eric Boehm
"Which Way, Democrats?" by Christian Britschgi
"Trump and MAGA Lost, but Big Government Notched Another Victory," by Nick Gillespie
"When You Investigate Trump's Corruption, Don't Make Collateral Damage of the Corporate Bystanders," by Tosin Akintola
"It Was a Data Center Election After All," by Christian Britschgi
"How Democrats Can Stop the Iran War Now," by Matthew Petti
"Jon Ossoff, Once the Senate's Most Vulnerable Democrat, Won Reelection by Running Against Trump's Corruption," by Joe Lancaster
"Fusionism in the Twenty-First Century," by Jonathan H. Adler
"J.D. Vance and the Politics of Victimhood," by Stephanie Slade
"How Frederick Douglass Destroyed John C. Calhoun With the Power of John Locke," by Damon Root
