国防部长皮特·赫格塞思周二上午在新闻发布会上回应了副总统万斯此前的批评，后者指责伊朗战争导致共和党在中期选举中遭遇惨重失利。赫格塞思告诉记者，他“非常尊重”万斯，但“不会进行任何相互指责”。“谢天谢地，政治不是我的强项。我负责战争部，确保我们做好准备、时刻待命。所以会有很多人审视这场冲突并作出评估，”赫格塞思说。
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a Tuesday morning press conference deflected Vice President Vance’s earlier criticism that the Iran war led to stunning Republican losses in the midterm elections, telling reporters he respects Vance “greatly” but was “not going to exchange any finger pointing.”“Thankfully, politics is not really my thing. I do the Department of War and making sure we’re prepared and ready. So a lot of people are going to look at the conflict and assess it,” Hegseth said.
他称赞万斯是“团队在各个方面都至关重要的成员”，并表示感谢副总统亲自给予他的建议。
He praised Vance as “a critical member of the team in every aspect of this,”and said he was grateful for input the vice president has given the Pentagon chief personally.
但赫格塞思补充说，他同意特朗普总统的观点，即即使伊朗战争极不受欢迎，特朗普也会重新发动这场战争。
But Hegseth added that he agreed with President Trump when he said he would start the Iran war all over again, even if it is deeply unpopular.
他说：“这是出于正当理由，为确保伊朗永远无法获得核武器。”他表示：“正如[国务卿]马尔科·鲁比奥所说得很好，这不一定受欢迎，但可能是必要的，我当然也是这么认为。这是一项必要的行动。”
“It was done for the right reasons to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” he said. “As [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio said, I think quite well, it’s not necessarily popular, but it may have been necessary, and that’s certainly how I feel. It was a necessary undertaking.”
面对众议院针对伊朗战争及其他冲突发起的弹劾程序，赫格塞思依然强硬，称这一举措是“闹剧”和“政治噱头”。这是赫格塞思189天来在五角大楼举行的首场新闻发布会，此前众议员托马斯·马西（共和党-肯塔基州）周一公布了针对他的八项弹劾条款。马西指控这位国防部长在伊朗、也门、委内瑞拉和加勒比海的美国军事行动中违反宪法和其他法律。
Hegseth has remained defiant in the face of impeachment proceedings against him in the House over the Iran war and other conflicts, calling the effort “a farce” and “a stunt.”Hegseth’s first press briefing at the Pentagon in 189 days came after Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Monday unveiled eight articles of impeachment against him. Massie has accused the defense chief of violating the Constitution and other laws with U.S. military operations in Iran, Yemen, Venezuela and the Caribbean.
赫格塞思未点名马西，称他是“一名心怀不满且已落败的众议员”，正在遵循“由自我和怨恨驱动的个人宣言”，试图“损害这位总统、这个国家，以及最不负责任地，损害保卫国家的战士”，而这正发生在他在国会的最后时日。
Without mentioning Massie by name, Hegseth called him “one disgruntled and defeated congressman” who is following “a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” and is attempting to “do damage to this president, this country, and most irresponsibly, the warriors who defend it” in his final days in Congress.
“这是一场闹剧，也是一场作秀，大家心知肚明，”赫格塞斯说。“在我们美国共和国250年的历史上，从未有过战争部长或国防部长因执行合法军事行动而遭到弹劾，而在我们的案例中，这些行动还是成功的。”
“It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt, and everybody knows it,” Hegseth said. “In the 250 years of our American republic, no secretary of War or secretary of Defense has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations, and in our case, successful ones at that.”
赫格塞斯还试图将自己与总统捆绑在一起，将针对他的弹劾行动比作特朗普首任期内遭遇的类似罢免尝试——一次源于据称与乌克兰总统的“权钱交易”电话，另一次源于2021年1月6日国会山骚乱。
Hegseth also sought to tie himself to the president, comparing the impeachment effort against him to similar attempts to remove Trump from office in his first term — once over an alleged quid-pro-quo phone call with Ukraine and the second time over the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
“我们以前看过这出戏。他们因一个‘完美电话’弹劾特朗普总统。在他任期最后一周，他们又弹劾了他一次。两次都失败了。两次他都卷土重来，美国人民把他再次送回了白宫，”赫格塞斯说。
“We’ve seen this show before. They impeached President Trump over a perfect phone call. They impeached him again in his final week in office. Both times they failed. Both times he came back stronger and the American people sent him back to the White House,” Hegseth said.
“现在他们正在尝试第三次，这次针对的是他的一位内阁成员。他们将再次失败，如果站在特朗普总统一边意味着我处于那种境地，我甘之如饴，周七天皆如此。”这番讲话似乎让特朗普很受用，他在不久后于社交媒体上发文评价这位五角大楼掌门人。
“Now they’re trying a third time, this time against a member of his Cabinet. They will fail again and if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I’ll take that company every day of the week.”The speech appeared to please Trump, who shortly posted his review of the Pentagon chief to social media.
“皮特·赫格塞斯在针对一名心怀不满、愤怒、失败的前众议员托马斯·马西的抗辩中获得‘A+++’评分，马西是个彻头彻尾的‘彻底失败者’！”特朗普周二在“真相社交”平台上写道。
“Pete Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!”Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.
众议院议员周二晚些时候预计将在弹劾赫格塞斯的行动中推进一个关键程序步骤，这一首要步骤将决定全体众议院是否会就八项弹劾条款继续推进。
House lawmakers later on Tuesday are expected to move on a key procedural step in the effort to impeach Hegseth, a first step that will determine whether the full lower chamber will move ahead on the eight impeachment articles.