GOP Rep. Thomas Massie unveils impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Monday reintroduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the U.S. war with Iran and other military actions ordered by President Donald Trump. House GOP leaders will be forced to bring the impeachment articles up for a floor vote within two legislative days because Massie filed the measure as privileged under House rules. Republicans could also make a motion to kill the resolution, which would require a majority vote. A simple majority vote is required in the House for the articles to be approved. If the effort is successful, the resolution is then sent to the Senate to decide whether to convict and remove Hegseth from office. Massie, a longtime Trump critic who’s retiring from Congress at the end of the year, brought eight charges against Hegseth, accusing him of “waging the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat.” Hegseth “has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as secretary of defense,” Massie said as he read the articles on the House floor, adding that Hegseth “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.” The first article “charges Secretary Hegseth with waging the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat,” according to Massie’s announcement. “It establishes that the war was unlawful from its inception.” Congress has the power to declare war under Article 1 of the Constitution, though the last time it formally declared war was World War II. The 1973 War Powers Resolution requires that the president formally notify the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore within two days any time the military is used and war hasn’t been declared. The law also requires the president to end the use of armed forces within 60 days if he uses the military without prior notification to Congress. Massie, who originally introduced the articles in September, said that Hegseth “abused the powers of his high office” by “directing, authorizing, and sustaining hostile United States military actions in Iran after the expiration of the 60-day period.” Since the early 2000s, presidents from both parties, including Trump, have relied on authorizations for the use of military force approved by Congress to order military action without the green light from lawmakers. Massie’s articles of impeachment also include charges related to alleged “extrajudicial killings,” referring to the strikes on alleged drug boats; “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader,” referring to the U.S. capturing then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro; and “unlawful war in Yemen.” Hegseth said Monday that he will hold a press conference Tuesday morning to address efforts to impeach him. When asked by reporters whether he has enough Republican support to defeat an impeachment, Hegseth said, “We’re not worried about that.” “We’re going to do a press conference tomorrow at the Pentagon on that very topic,” he continued. “So I’ll save my remarks there. I hope you’ll all come loaded for bear with your questions.” On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said he was a “hard yes” on supporting impeachment efforts against Hegseth. “The so-called secretary of defense has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe,” Jeffries said. The House last impeached a federal officer in 2024 when it approved articles against then-Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas under President Joe Biden on charges related to his handling of the border. But the Democratic-led Senate voted to dismiss the charges. Voter backlash to the Iran war and the resulting rise in oil prices appeared to play a major role in Democrats’ successful midterm election last week. Trump and Vice President JD Vance both blamed GOP losses on the conflict, which began in late February with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.