On Tuesday, Nov. 10, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held his first Pentagon press conference in six months, using the event to defend the Iran war and his response to a House impeachment fight rather than discuss a plan to end the conflict. A House impeachment vote could happen as early as Tuesday.

The appearance put Hegseth’s congressional fight at the center of a Pentagon briefing, while he used the forum to defend military operations against suspected drug smugglers and press Congress for defense funding. His answers linked his congressional defense to Trump’s impeachment history and presented the Iran campaign as necessary to his administration’s policy.

Questions at the briefing went only to conservative outlets, according to The Wall Street Journal, and Hegseth’s family members sat in the front row. Immediately after the press conference, Trump posted online that Hegseth gets an “‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS.”

Hegseth aligned himself closely with President Trump and drew parallels between his congressional fight and Trump’s previous impeachment cases. Trump has been impeached twice in the House and has been accused of sexual abuse. During Hegseth’s confirmation, he faced allegations of domestic abuse and heavy drinking; he denied the allegations.

He said the impeachment effort by Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) was an attempt to “sabotage” the White House’s national-security policies. Hegseth contended, “A single rogue legislator, loaded with personal animus for the president,” was trying to “veto national security decisions made by the duly elected commander in chief.” He said Trump was impeached in the House over a “perfect phone call,” a reference to Trump’s defense during the 2019 impeachment trial, and alleged that accusations of misconduct brought comfort to America’s enemies.

Several legal experts and lawmakers have raised questions about the legality of Hegseth’s military campaign against Latin American-based drug cartels, including the use of military force to strike drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific. Massie alleges that the strikes are an unlawful use of lethal military force.

Hegseth repeatedly argued that criticism from Massie and other lawmakers who said the strikes violated laws of war amounted to a political attack on the troops. Hegseth said, “Politicians in Washington have accused the sailors and the pilots who struck narco-terrorist boats of war crimes for doing their jobs,” and added, “If they want to come for the warriors, they’re going to have to come through me.”

In describing the campaign, Hegseth said more than 70 boats had been sunk and 218 people killed. He used the term “narco terrorists” for suspected drug smugglers.

On the Iran campaign, Hegseth carefully distanced himself from suggestions that the war produced Republican losses in the midterms. Vice President Vance had blamed sweeping GOP election losses on the war and suggested the campaign was not worth its cost at the ballot box. Trump later said voters did not like the war but that he would do it again. Hegseth said the military campaign was necessary. “I respect the Vice President greatly, and I’m certainly not going to engage in any finger pointing,” Hegseth said before endorsing the war.

Defending the current White House policy on Iran, Hegseth said the U.S. did not need to take immediate action against Iran’s nuclear sites and could monitor them for now with satellite reconnaissance and other intelligence. “We’re able to maintain oversight and visibility of those nuclear sites,” he said. “And if we saw the kind of nefarious activity that required action, we would take it.” He contended that more than 80% of Iran’s “nuclear industrial base” had been destroyed.

Hegseth also made a plea to Capitol Hill to pass the Pentagon’s historic budget request. The Wall Street Journal described the overall request as $1.5 billion and separately listed $1.15 billion for base-defense appropriations and $350 billion for a one-time reconciliation. Lawmakers had signaled that the proposal would not pass Congress even under Republican control, and some Republicans said they did not support the reconciliation amount.

Hegseth said $350 billion at minimum for reconciliation was needed for what he called a generational, historic investment in the department. “We’re flooding the zone because this lame duck period is critically important for funding of our department,” Hegseth said. He also said the Pentagon’s legislative team was working “all the time” with Republican lawmakers to secure defense spending.

Three issues remained unsettled after the briefing: whether the House would vote that day, how legal questions about the strikes would be resolved and whether Congress would approve the requested funding. Hegseth defended the administration’s military actions and said the Iran campaign was necessary.