GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

The political shakeup in Washington continue today as Republicans chose their leaders for the next Congress.

After hours of closed-door discussion, Senate Republicans reelected John Thune as their leader, and, in the House, Republicans selected Jim Jordan to lead their party when the new Congress convenes in January.

AMNA NAWAZ: Those votes may pale in comparison to the effort already under way to try to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

But, first, early this morning, Hegseth laid down the gauntlet, as congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports.

LISA DESJARDINS: From the Pentagon podium, defiance.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S.

Defense Secretary: This is not patriotism.

This is sabotage.

LISA DESJARDINS: This morning, Secretary Pete Hegseth on defense as the House readies for a vote on his impeachment, a motion proposed by outgoing Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

PETE HEGSETH: What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight and it's not accountability.

It's a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment.

LISA DESJARDINS: Massie, who lost his Republican bid in the primaries, called Hegseth a -- quote -- "threat to the Constitution."

He has introduced eight articles of impeachment against him, charging he waged illegal wars in Iran and Yemen, illegally kidnapped the leader of Venezuela, ignored laws to minimize civilian casualties, including missile strikes that hit an Iranian elementary school, illegally retaliated against navy veteran and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, and oversaw extrajudicial killings at sea with strikes on alleged drug cartel boats.

PETE HEGSETH: I stand behind every one of these operations.

I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow.

LISA DESJARDINS: Hegseth said his impeachment will undermine the U.S.

military, and he chalked the accusations up to mere disagreements in policy.

PETE HEGSETH: Not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause.

LISA DESJARDINS: Minutes after Hegseth's rare news conference -- he hadn't held one in six months -- President Trump displayed his support with a grade, A+++.

On Capitol Hill, with Democrats expected to back impeachment en masse, some Republicans said nothing.

Those speaking publicly pushed back.

REP.

GUS BILIRAKIS (R-FL): It's ridiculous that they are trying to impeach him.

REP.

TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): He didn't commit any crimes.

REP.

DARRELL ISSA (R-CA): It's going to die in the Senate.

LISA DESJARDINS: Don Bacon of Nebraska, a retired Air Force brigadier general, said he has concerns about Hegseth, but will oppose impeachment.

REP.

DON BACON (R-NE): I don't really agree with the impeachment itself, how Massie wrote it.

LISA DESJARDINS: As the GOP reckons with its midterm loss, House Republicans elected a new leader, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio.

REP.

MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): It is my great delight now to yield the podium to your new Republican leader, Mr.

Jim Jordan.

LISA DESJARDINS: Jordan, a close ally of President Trump and known for his bulldog style, defeated Steve Scalise of Louisiana in a closed-door secret ballot vote.

He will be the top Republican in January.

REP.

JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Over the next two years, House Republicans will fight for American families.

When Democrats offer more government, we will offer more freedom.

LISA DESJARDINS: As for the Senate... SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Thanks everybody for coming.

LISA DESJARDINS: ... some Democrats had questions about their top leader.

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: I will not be supporting Chuck.

LISA DESJARDINS: Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders and moderate Elissa Slotkin together said that Chuck Schumer, the current Democratic leader, does not represent what the election was about.

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: If this campaign was about anything, it was about change and the need for the Democratic Party, in my view, to move in a new and bold direction.

LISA DESJARDINS: Schumer responded.

SEN.

CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I'm confident I will be elected majority leader, and our caucus is really united in focusing on bringing down costs, on ending the corruption, on ending the chaos, on ending the war.

We have great unity in our caucus, and I will be proud to lead it as majority leader.

LISA DESJARDINS: The Democrats' vote on whether Schumer will stay as a leader is scheduled for December.

But, clearly, this is a critical moment for him right now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, let's begin with that effort to impeach the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

Bring us up to speed.

What's the latest on that effort?

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, just in the past few minutes, Amna, we have had some news.

The House did take an initial procedural vote on that impeachment, and the House voted to send those impeachment resolutions back to committee, essentially killing the effort to impeach Secretary Hegseth.

This is a significant win for President Trump, for Secretary Hegseth, and for House Republicans.

Just a day ago, it felt like this is a vote that was going to go against Secretary Hegseth.

Instead, today, talking to Republicans, I heard them making two common arguments.

One was that they felt that these articles themselves were not written correctly.

Even if they had concerns about Hegseth, these were not the concerns they had.

The other is that these were likely to either not go to the Senate or to die in the Senate.

Either way, we saw just one Republican tonight, the sponsor of the bill himself, Thomas Massie, support this impeachment effort, and it completely went down just a few minutes ago on the House floor.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, Lisa, the selection of Jim Jordan to lead House Republicans in this next Congress, what does that say to you about the next phase of the Republicans?

LISA DESJARDINS: This is a clear signal to me from House Republicans.

I have covered Jim Jordan a long time.

This is a signal that they want a fighter.

He is known for his confrontational style.

To put it in "Godfather" terms, he's a wartime consigliere.

Now, he is someone who obviously is an ally of President Trump, but interestingly enough, I walked along with him today, and one of my colleagues asked him, do you see your role as defending President Trump?

Jim Jordan, just elected as a Republican leader, said: "Actually, I see my role as trying to regain the majority."

So that was interesting.

He did not take questions at his press conference.

He did defeat his longtime internal rival, Steve Scalise, today.

And with Steve Scalise out of the leadership position, and the same with Mike Johnson leaving the speaker's role in January, now we have a Republican leadership in the House that, get this, will have no Southerners at the top of it.

Regardless, now, Jim Jordan coming in, and along with Stephen Miller at the White House, that means there are sort of two sort of no-holds-bards, ruthless defenders of the president in line in those two spots.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, what about for Senate Republicans?

The selection of John Thune as their leader, what does that say to you?

LISA DESJARDINS: It's quite a contrast.

John Thune has a very different approach to how he gets things done than Jim Jordan, but he was able today, despite historic losses in terms of his timing in the Senate, to make -- to survive.

We weren't sure if they were going to delay his election, but in a very strong sign of confidence from Senate Republicans, they elected him rather easily, rather quickly today.

He will be returning, and he will be the top Republican in the Senate.

AMNA NAWAZ: And as you have reported, Democrats will have to select their leadership as well.

Among Senate Democrats, is Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer really at risk of losing his position?

LISA DESJARDINS: There is quite a lot to talk about here.

A week ago, talking to senators, talking to staffers on the Senate Democratic side, there -- really, no one thought that there was going to be a serious problem for Senator Schumer.

But I think today we hear a lot of Democratic senators, even those who have been full-throated supporters of Schumer in the past, say they are not sure that he is bold enough.

They are not sure that he has the vision that they saw in the election this year.

He's been touting his big wins.

He's been touting the candidates he recruited.

But there is a big conversation around him, and part of the problem for him is the freshman senators that he helped elect.

So far, six of them have said outright that they are opposed to him as leader.

Two others have said they're not sure.

So my reporting right now, Amna and Geoff, is that it's not clear where this thing -- where it stands with him, but this is a serious conversation, a serious challenge to him.

I think the next two days will show where this ends up.

Schumer has an opportunity to win back some support, but it's -- we will have to watch.

This is a serious moment for him.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that's our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, with the very latest from Capitol Hill.

Lisa, thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.