WASHINGTON — War Secretary Pete Hegseth went on a fiery tirade Tuesday against Rep. Thomas Massie over his bid to impeach the Pentagon chief, accusing the “rogue legislator” of “sabotage.”

Hegseth, who took the unprecedented step of campaigning against Massie’s (R-Ky.) bid for re-election earlier this year while leading the US military, insisted that he has done nothing worthy of being just the third cabinet official in US history to be impeached, adding: “This is not patriotism. This is sabotage.”

If Massie’s attempt succeeds, Hegseth added, “a single rogue legislator, loaded with personal animus for the president, can attempt to veto national security decisions made by the duly elected commander in chief.”

The secretary argued that impeachment was not a proper remedy for policy disagreements and that his critics should pursue legislation instead.

Hegseth’s first press conference since May followed heavy Republican losses in last week’s midterm elections, which some have attributed to economic aftershocks of the US war against Iran.

“History will judge the Iran war quite differently than conventional wisdom,” he claimed. “[Trump] did not kick the can; he kicked their teeth in.”

Whatever the outcome of Massie’s impeachment motion, which could receive a vote later Tuesday, Democrats are likely to resurrect proceedings against Hegseth if he is not ousted before the new Congress is sworn in Jan. 3.

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