Hegseth impeachment, war oversight coming with Dem majority

Good Morning, I’m Andrew Dyer in for Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s Tuesday, November 10th.

Congress could impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week, but what then?

More on that next. But first... the headlines….

Republican Congressman Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Monday.

Massie accuses Hegseth of abusing the power of his office and waging war against Iran without Congressional authorization.

Hegseth says the effort to impeach him is politically motivated and that people are unhappy that the Iran War has been a success.

Congress is expected to vote on Hegseth’s impeachment this week.

San Diego Congresswoman Sara Jacobs says accountability won’t end with the Secretary. We’ll have more on that later in the podcast.

The San Diego Humane Society is breaking ground today on a new low-cost veterinary hospital.

The new Community Veterinary Hospital & Spay/Neuter Center, will be across the street from the Humane Society’s main campus in Mission Valley.

The Humane Society says by offering low cost medical services they’ll remove barriers to care for pet families.

Once open they’ll offer exams, surgeries, vaccines and spay and neuter services.

Veterans Day is tomorrow. The holiday offers several opportunities to mark the occasion in San Diego.

The Veterans Day Parade is at 10 am along the waterfront on Harbor Drive with plenty of other observances around the county.

The holiday means several city and county offices will be closed so check ahead before heading out.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.

Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

San Diego Democratic Congresswoman Sara Jacobs says whatever the outcome, Pentagon oversight won’t end with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment vote this week.

Jacobs sits on the House Armed Services committee. She tells K-P-B-S people can expect a wide range of investigations into military actions.

The top three priorities are going to be the prosecution of the war in Iran, the civilian casualties that happened in Iran, how our service members were treated during their deployments. The second big priority will be oversight of the boat strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
And then lastly, the third big priority will be how Pete has injected his culture war and Christian nationalism into the military and the detriment that's had to our readiness and to our service members.

Jacobs previously told K-P-B-S the Trump Administration’s legal justification for the boat strikes near Central and South America was quote “bonkers.”

The strikes have been criticized by legal experts as clearly illegal.

Jacobs says accountability for the strikes and Iran War won’t stop with Pete Hegseth.

I think there's real accountability that needs to be done up and down the chain of command. And not only holding people accountable, but also learning lessons to make sure that these kinds of things can't happen in the future. 

we're also going to be looking at how we can tighten up the authorizations for the use of military force, the War Powers Resolution, all those other things to make it much clearer what is and is not allowed under the law.

Hegseth says the impeachment is politically motivated and that his critics don’t like that the Iran War has been a success.

He’s expected to hold a press conference from the Pentagon today (Tuesday). It would be his first in more than six months.

THE CHULA VISTA CITY COUNCIL IS LAUNCHING A REVIEW OF ITS TENANT PROTECTION ORDINANCE… AFTER A VIOLENT STRUGGLE BROKE OUT AT AN EASTLAKE APARTMENT COMPLEX LAST MONTH.

LANDLORDS’ INDUSTRY GROUPS ARE PUSHING FOR THE CHANGES… BUT TENANTS’ RIGHTS ADVOCATES WORRY THEY’RE USING THE INCIDENT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ROLL BACK IMPORTANT REFORMS. REPORTER KORI SUZUKI HAS MORE.

Last month, a noise complaint escalated into a violent brawl … at the Casa Lago apartment complex in East Chula Vista. The struggle ended with one resident stabbed with a broken bottle and six people arrested.

The October incident has drawn citywide attention -- beyond the immediate public safety concerns. Landlord groups are saying the city's tenant protection laws are at least partly to blame. Here’s George Ching, with the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors, at a city council meeting last month.

The way the system works right now is broken. The laws aren't allowing dangerous people to be removed from the properties and it's hurting hurting neighbors.

Ching and other industry representatives are urging the City Council to review its Tenant Protection Ordinance. Which makes it harder for landlords to evict renters who follow the rules in the lease and pay the rent on time.

Gilberto Vera is a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Diego. He says the Tenant Protection Ordinance does not protect renters who commit crimes.

My concern is that that this is being used more as a guise to weaken the overall protections than addressing this type of behavior specifically.

The City Council is expected to discuss changes to the ordinance by January.

Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.

An investigation is underway at Grossmont and Cuyamaca (coo-yuh-mack-a) colleges after administrators discovered a financial aid fraud ring impacting online classes.

REPORTER CARLY KAY has more on what the district is doing to prevent this from happening again.

school officials say a financial aid fraud ring has targeted grossmont and cuyamaca (coo-yuh-mack-a) community colleges.

 an email sent to to faculty on thursday says hundreds of students taking online classes have been impacted. 

the district  declined to comment because the investigation is active. it is unclear how the fraud impacted students. 

colleges across the state saw a rise in fake applications in 2025 according to reporting from calmatters. 

since august, community colleges have been required to verify to student identity during the application process. 

the district’s email says they’ve identified some fake students. but more are likely undetected.

financial aid fraud is a federal crime. Carly Kay KPBS News.

COMMUTER AND FREIGHT TRAINS CROSSED OVER THE NEW BATIQUITOS (bah-tee-KEE-tohs) LAGOON BRIDGE IN CARLSBAD FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY (MONDAY).

NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN SAYS THE NEW BRIDGE REPLACES THE OLD 1940s WOODEN BRIDGE AT THE END OF ITS USE-LIFE

An Amtrak Surfliner was the inaugural train to cross the bridge at 5 o’clock Monday morning.

It’s a milestone for the 166-million-dollar Batiquitos Lagoon Double Tracking project.

Tracey D'Aoust Roberts is the deputy district director of environmental analysis for Caltrans

She says the new bridge is more environmentally friendly, with its wider spans that allow for more water movement.

“It's also going to encourage better eelgrass development, which encourages fish and then brings in suitable habitat for the California least tern, which is this area, which was fully restored as part of the project.”

Once completed, the project will add point-6 miles of double-track for a continuous run of nearly six miles in the LOSSAN corridor.

That’s the Los Angeles - San Diego and San Luis Obispo corridor. It’s San Diego’s only trail connection to the rest of the nation. Alexander Nguyen, KPBS News.

VETERANS DAY IS TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY). IT’S A DAY TO HONOR THOSE WHO’VE SERVED IN THE U-S ARMED FORCES.

I spoke with KPBS All Things Considered host Debbie Cruz about WHAT to KEEP IN MIND FOR THE HOLIDAY.

Andrew, you're our military and veterans affairs reporter, but you yourself served in the military. Can you tell us about what Veterans Day means to you?

Personally, it's kind of about work. But um I I think it's a it's a good opportunity for people to reflect a little bit on service and and all of its ramifications and and what it means for people.

As a veteran yourself, what do people often get wrong about Veterans Day?

I think every veteran has a different relationship with their time in the military. And you know, I don't I don't think everybody is going to like Veterans Day events and and and things like that.

How about Veterans Day versus Memorial Day?

Yeah, so Veterans Day is about you know, recognizing veterans where Memorial Day is about those who gave their life in service to the country. So, both holidays, you know, are about service, but they recognize different aspects of that service. You know, Veterans Day started off as Armistice Day recognizing the end of World War I on you know, November 11th.

So, it has a very specific history and a very specific meaning. And I think people often get the two kind of I think for a lot of people they're very much the same sort of holiday, but they they mean different things.

And of course, Veterans Day isn't just about the people that serve, but also about the families.

Tell us more about that. Well, families serve to, right? It's a kind of a cliche, but it's it's a cliche because it's true if your father or mother is uh in the military, that means that they are probably going to be gone for um different parts of your life, especially in the Navy when people leave for months. And you know, you may have to move several times growing up.

So, it is a very uh specific type of experience that military families go through different challenges than what other families go through. Not just the children, but the spouses also have a lot of challenges maintaining careers because of the frequent relocation. So, there's a whole aspect to service that the families experience that often kind of goes unrecognized.

Right. And what should someone keep in mind before thanking someone for their service?

You know, a lot of times it can come off as as trite, I think. I've heard and I've heard this from from veterans that you know, some people even you know, maybe even be uncomfortable with being thanked for their service. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it, but you know, I just think that you should probably recognize that everybody has a different you know, relationship with their own service.

And um you know, it's it's really what it's about is just respecting people and As long as you are respecting the person, you know, I think it's it's fine to thank anyone for their service. But yeah, there is there is that kind of uh more cynical aspect to it these days, but I I think most people appreciate just being respected no matter what.

What are some ways people can take action on veterans beyond the thank you?

Well, I think there's a lot of you know, there's a lot of nonprofit organizations that help veterans. Veterans do experience different challenges when it comes to housing and and substance use disorder. And there are a lot of ways to support these organizations either financially or with your time as as a volunteer. San Diego has a bunch of these orgs and they they do a lot of good work.

I think if you really want to help veterans or support veterans, there's you know, not many better ways to do it than than working with one of these organizations.

Any specific organization that's close to your heart?

This network of support organizations, they all help each other out. But um I think my most recent stories I've reported on the Foundation for Women Warriors up in North County, the Support the Enlisted Project, which is based in San Diego. Both those organizations do a lot of work. Um but as does the the San Diego Food Bank and the Armed Services YMCA, which runs food banks on bases.

So, yeah, there's a lot of organizations that do a lot of good work.

Well, thanks for being here, Andrew, and thank you for your service.

Thank you so much.

That’s it for the podcast today. We were hoping to have the latest on last night’s Midway Rising vote today but last night’s meeting ran late. You can find the latest on that story and more on KPBS dot org. We’ll bring you more on Midway Rising on a later podcast. I’m Andrew Dyer, Lawrence K. Jackson will be back tomorrow. Thanks for listening and have a great day.