Hegseth Impeachment Blocked, House Leadership Change, DOJ Charges Terror Suspects

House Republicans blocked an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Now Congress moves on to war powers and defense spending. What can Republicans get done before Democrats take over? I'm Michelle Martin with Seed Innski and this is up first from NPR News. House Republicans chose a new leader, Ohio's Jim Jordan. When Democrats offer more government, we'll offer more freedom and we will bring that fight every single day. Jordan built his reputation on partisan fighting. What does his rise say about Republicans' approach to being in the minority? Also the Justice Department says three Iran-backed operatives plan nearly 20 terror plots across Europe and the United States that includes one targeting a British air base used by American forces. House secure our U.S. military science. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. Critics of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth missed an opportunity to put the House of Representatives on the record. A lone Republican lawmaker Thomas Massey sponsored a resolution to impeach Hegseth over the Iran War and other issues. Every other Republican president voted to set the matter aside and that was just enough in a House that Republicans control for a few more weeks. NPR Congress reporter Eric McDaniel was at the Capitol and is now here in Studio 31. Eric, thanks for coming by. Of course. Exactly was that vote yesterday. Well, they referred it to committee. It was basically a parliamentary maneuver to avoid taking up the impeachment charges and voting on them. Republicans had a simple majority of folks who were actually in attendance at the vote last night and that was enough to quash it. It was the Congress version of making the bill wait on like an endless customer support hold. I'm thinking about that old schoolhouse rock thing. Yes, it's stuck in committee Republicans stood in Trump's corner here and Hegseth corner even after a big election lost that a lot to do with the war in Iran. You know, it's a really good point and it's something I raised beforehand with a Republican lawmaker on Monday afternoon, well before the vote actually, I have on the phone with Warren Davidson. He's a Republican congressman from Ohio and he told me he thinks this war, this conflict is unconstitutional because it was never authorized by Congress who of course have the power to regulate military conflict, but he doesn't blame Hegseth for that. Trying to scapegoat P. Hegseth is just a kind of status quo politics in Washington is. Oh, we got to find somebody who wasn't on the ballot to take the heat for the way that the election turned out. He argues basically if Congress has a problem with the war, use the power of the person refused to fund it. He also would like to see the administration articulate a plan. What about the other charges here involving killing people who'd been on boats in the Caribbean? Yeah. Talking about these boat bombings, the administration claims disrupt drug trafficking. There was also a charge for suppressing free speech after the Pentagon tried to punish Mark Kelly. He's a Democratic senator from Arizona for a video telling service members they are allowed and in fact, must refuse illegal order. So a lot of different stuff in there Hegseth ultimately put out a video last week calling the whole effort a sham. He said it didn't work against President Trump and it won't work with me. Trump also helped to whip votes on this. But the White House said in a statement, quote, the administration strongly opposes this impeachment resolution against Secretary Hegseth, a rogue politically motivated effort to undermine our war fighters, our nation's constitution and our national security. Somebody else seems to have helped Hegseth here. Do I understand this correctly? Some Republicans were absent. Democrats actually had enough people physically in Washington maybe or at least on the roles to pass this, but some were not on the floor for the vote. Yeah. Many on the roles, this was always going to be a game of attendance like we talked about earlier this week once Republicans got their clocks cleaned in the midterms. It was going to be a game to see if they could get themselves back in town. And ultimately they beat Democrats on attendance performance as we saw in the vote. Hakeem Jeffries obviously supported this impeachment against Hegseth. So we'll see what happens now, although this strikes to seem like a lack of seriousness to not show up. What happens now? So next Steve, these charges aren't going anywhere, but this was always going to face a steep climb, but it was always kind of a messaging effort too, right? And there are lots of those still to come. The administration asked for an unprecedented $1.5 trillion in defense money. There's also a separate December 11th government funding deadline. There could be new war powers votes, some of which have already attracted before the midterm elections, Republican support. So still lots of points of leverage left coming for Iran war opponents to extract concessions from the administration, anything from Hegseth's exit to winding down the conflict, or I guess any number of other things. But what happens next, it isn't going to happen by impeaching or removing the secretary of defense, though that could change when the new Congress is sworn in under Democratic control in January. And Piers Erick McDaniel, thanks so much. Thank you. House Republicans are preparing for life in the minority come January and they will have a new leader. Yeah, that's Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan. He was selected yesterday as a Republicans top leader in the House after a vote by secret ballot. When Democrats offer more government, we'll offer more freedom. And we will bring that fight and committee on the floor and on the stump every single day. Jordan will replace Speaker Mike Johnson, who after our last week's midterm losses says he is stepping down as the top House Republican. And PR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt is also here in Studio 31, Barbara. Thanks for coming by as well. My pleasure. So there were two contenders to replace Mike Johnson, one is Jim Jordan. The other Steve Scalice, who's the number two Republican in the House and has been in or around leadership for many years. What was Jordan's pitch here? Well, Jordan positioned himself as a fighter. You know, he told his colleagues before the vote that offense, not defense, wins elections. He called himself battle tested. He's a veteran of the judiciary and oversight committees, two committees that are going to play a very big role in the new Congress. Democrats already have a long list of targets there. And Jordan used that in his pitch to his colleagues, you know, that his leadership experience on both committees would help him navigate those impending investigations. And apparently enough Republicans agreed with that pitch. So what does that say about the party's expected strategy? Why see this election as sort of a choice between continuity and change. Jordan is certainly the change candidate. He's the co-founder of the ultra conservative Freedom Caucus, which as we all know was often a thorn in the side of Republican leadership, Scalice is seen as more of a moderate in extension of that leadership era of Johnson. And so the vote tells me that House Republicans wanted a clean break from that leadership era. I think folks are craving a new chapter after their massive loss last week. I also think the choice of Jordan is illuminating when you take it alongside the placement of Stephen Miller as the president's new chief of staff. Both have a very combative approach to politics. So much so that I remember former House Speaker John Boehner calling Jordan a legislative terrorist. So the elevation of these two suggests to me that Republicans in the minority are preparing to lean into the fight rather than leaning into compromise. Just a reminder, the guy calling Jordan a legislative terrorist is himself a Republicans. There we go. He has sometimes criticized his own party and angered people his own party. Now what about the leadership elections in the U.S. Senate? Well, Senate Republicans held their own closed or vote yesterday to pick their leaders. There was a small group who wanted to delay the vote. Take more time to process the election results, but they ultimately moved ahead with the vote. John Thune, now the majority leader in the Senate was reelected. What about on the Democratic side? Well, there will be elections next week. The current Democratic leaders are expected to stay in place. That's Hakim Jeffries in the House, Chuck Schumer in the Senate, both New Yorkers. It's not to say that there aren't some rumblings going on. No one has come forward to challenge them directly for these top jobs, but there is a group of senators who have said, you know, they want new leadership. That includes Bernie Sanders of Vermont, no surprise there. Alyssa Slocke and of Michigan, there are some Senator Alex as well, like Annie Andrews of South Carolina, who have said during the campaign, they want to see new change. I wonder if lawmakers are trying to respond to the rumblings of voters, who seem unhappy with current leadership, would like to see in some cases Schumer go, but Schumer just coordinated a massive election with. Well, therein lies the tension, right? But I think that speaks to the challenge is that a lot of Democrats feel that they got a message loud and clear from voters, and if they don't respond in a way that reflects that sort of hunger for change in leadership, they feel that they may fall short. And Piers Barbara Sprun, thank you. You're welcome. Federal prosecutors have indicted three Iran-backed operatives. They were allegedly involved in nearly 20 terrorist attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States. According to the DOJ, some attacks were directed live over FaceTime video from Iraq, and one of those instances, one of the men allegedly targeted a British air base housing American troops. Separately, also in the UK, British police have arrested a US soldier on suspicion of spying for Russia. Villain Marx is on the line from London, and we'll try to help us figure this out. Villain, welcome. Thank you so much, Steve. Thank you. Okay. Starting with the charges from the US Department of Justice, who were the three men charged and what are the allegations against them? So the three men are Mohammed Al-Sadi. He's a 32-year-old Iranian Iraqi Jewel National, Mohsen Mahjheri, who's a 48-year-old Iranian, and Mohammed Ali Al-Hassani, who's a 35-year-old Iraqi. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say they work for Iran's revolutionary guard, and the Iraqi militia Katayib Hasbulla, both of those are designated terrorist groups. Seven of the attacks they're accused of took place here in Britain. They included arson, explosives, and a near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men. here in London. The details are pretty extraordinary. Prosecutors say that back in April, the men sat in a room and directed one of these attacks remotely in real time over FaceTime, as you mentioned, telling the attacker when to light and throw what seems to have been some kind of incendiary device. So in the next day, one of the men, Mohammed Ali Al-Hazani, I literally told another man, attacking a London synagogue to quote, light it up like a Christmas tree. Amazing. And then there's this plot at a British air base. And this is the one we've heard more about, Americans were stationed at that base. What happened there? Yeah, so that's RAF Fareford. It's West of London in Blostosha, the county, where US military aircraft personnel were based for a long time. That plot was filed back in late September on the 26th of September. Prosecutors there say that Al-Hazani, operating from Iran at the time, paid people here in Britain to film the base's perimeter, to buy some vans, trucks, some barrels of fuel, research chemical accelerants, and then buy some metal objects that could serve as shrapnel. Those men involved in that were stopped at a security roadblock. And here's the really extraordinary part. At that time, Al-Sadi, one of these other alleged defendants, had already been brought into federal custody in New York to face terrorism-related charges. And prosecuted to say he used calls with family back in Iraq to pass coded messages to help fund that plot. Al-Sadi remains in federal custody over in New York. The Justice Department hasn't said where the other two men are currently being held. Wait a minute, just to confirm, this man allegedly helped to coordinate a terror plot while he was in federal custody? Yeah, using a phone, talking to his mother and sister and trying to get money to one of the other men. Okay, separately then. A US soldier arrested there in Britain on suspicion of spying for Russia. What happened there? Well, we don't have a lot of details yet. He hasn't actually been named. British counterterrorism police said a 41-year-old member of the US Army was arrested Tuesday under Britain's National Security Act. Police here in the UK say the allegations relate to Russia. Officers are searching two locations. He's now being held here in London at a police station. He's not yet been formally charged. And the head of the US Army's counterintelligence command, that's Brigadier General Sean Stinchen, described him as a "senior soldier" entrusted with sensitive information and called the case "a sobering reminder that insider threats are real and persistent." Are these various cases in any way connected? Doesn't seem so, British police clear that the spying investigation is not linked to those Iran-related incidents, but they do, of course, raise some serious questions about security at American military bases here in Britain and the safety of people living nearby. Bill Marx reporting from London, "Thanks so much." And that's up first for this Wednesday, November 11th, veterans day, I'm Steven Skute. And I'm Michelle Martin. Today's episode of a first was edited by Jason Braslow, Tara Neal, Miguel Macias, Mohamed El-Madeci, and Ellis Wolfley. It was produced by Ziann Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Yusha Hainis and Patrick Murray. Our technical director is Margaret Luther, and our supervising producer is Rina Advani, Jonas again tomorrow.