Garcia says Hegseth should not be in office
Robert GarciaU.S. representative for California and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee
In a Politico interview about Democratic plans if the party wins the House, Rep. Robert Garcia said Hegseth should not be in office and that impeachment discussions covering other officials were ongoing.
“There’s a lot of conversations about DOD right now.” … “Hegseth should not be in office — a lot of others should be impeached. So those are ongoing conversations.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should Pete Hegseth be impeached?
Members of the House have advanced multiple impeachment proposals involving Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Rep. Shri Thanedar introduced H.Res. 935 in December 2025, Rep. Yassamin Ansari introduced H.Res. 1177 in April 2026, and Rep. Thomas Massie announced in September that he would offer a privileged resolution. The proposals allege distinct conduct involving military operations, oversight, and the handling of sensitive information; the proposals themselves do not establish those allegations. Hegseth disputed the characterization that anyone was “texting war plans,” while Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson called the April effort a charade and, after Massie read his articles on September 15, defended Hegseth’s record without addressing the specific allegations. The dispute is whether the House should impeach Hegseth on the basis of the congressional proposals and available evidence.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Politico reports Democratic plans for Pentagon oversight and possible impeachment if the party wins the House, quoting Rep. Robert Garcia and Rep. Pat Ryan directly. No second outlet carrying these specific quotations was located.
Before the quotation
Politico reports that Democratic oversight plans “could even result in an impeachment bid, some lawmakers are warning.”
After the quotation
The article then notes the April resolution led by Rep. Ansari. Garcia describes discussions as ongoing rather than settled.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to whether the House should impeach Hegseth, Garcia says he should not hold office and places that judgment inside an express discussion of impeachment bids. He does not commit to impeaching Hegseth specifically, so the label rests on the impeachment framing of the exchange rather than on an explicit call.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Pete Hegseth
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The Dispute Index. "Garcia says Hegseth should not be in office". First published: 2026-09-16. Last updated: 2026-09-16. https://disputeindex.com/events/670-in-a-politico-interview-about-democratic-plans-if