Massie says he’ll move to impeach Hegseth if he’s not gone after midterms

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), on Monday indicated he would reintroduce articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should he remain at the Pentagon after Congress returns to Washington, D.C., following the November midterm elections.

Massie, who kicked off the impeachment process against Hegseth in September over the war in Iran, wrote on social media that a reporter asked him about his plans for that effort.

“Will you reintroduce articles of impeachment against SecDef Hegseth when Congress returns to DC?” Massie wrote the unnamed reporter as asking.

“If he’s still SecDef,” Massie wrote as his reply, using an abbreviation for secretary of Defense.

Congress plans to vote on Hegseth’s impeachment — their only mechanism to remove the Pentagon chief — upon their return to Capitol Hill next month.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) confirmed the plans earlier on Monday, saying Democrats will run the Pentagon chief “ out of town ” if they take the majority.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have floated Hegseth’s ouster as the political price for cooperation on key defense-related issues in the lame-duck session. They could have the help of some Republicans who are displeased with Hegseth’s leadership, particularly over his ouster of well-respected military leaders.

Massie in September alleged that Hegseth initiated and has conducted the U.S. war against Iran illegally, among other “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

A longtime critic of the Trump administration, Massie said that Hegseth also defied Congress’s order to withdraw from the war and caused unnecessary civilian casualties.

Massie is on his way out of Congress after he lost his primary to an opponent backed by President Trump.