The Library Media — National & World · National Desk
By Eleanor Ever Loyal
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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Monday renewed his effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, using a privileged resolution that will force the House to confront the question within two legislative days.
The move marks Massie’s second attempt in two months to remove the Pentagon chief. House Republican leaders avoided a vote on his original September resolution by sending lawmakers home a day early for the pre-midterm recess. Now, with Congress back in session after an election in which Republicans suffered significant losses, the political conditions around the effort may be changing.
Whether the articles will pass remains unclear.
Under the privileged-resolution process described in the reporting, House GOP leaders must bring the measure to the floor within two legislative days. Republicans could instead seek to kill the resolution through a motion requiring majority support. If the House votes on the articles themselves, a simple majority is required for impeachment. If the House impeaches Hegseth, the matter would then go to the Senate, which would decide whether to convict and remove him from office.
Massie introduced eight articles against Hegseth, centered on the Trump administration’s military actions in Iran and other operations.
The first article, according to Massie’s announcement, charges Hegseth with waging the Iran war despite “no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat.” Massie said the article establishes that the war was “unlawful from its inception.”
On the House floor Monday, Massie accused Hegseth of knowingly implementing unlawful orders to initiate war without congressional authorization, an attack on the United States creating the national emergency contemplated by law, or an imminent threat requiring immediate defensive action.
“Secretary Hegseth knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders to initiate war against a foreign nation,” Massie said, accusing him of substituting executive action for “the constitutional and statutory judgment of Congress.”
Massie also said Hegseth had acted contrary to his trust as defense secretary and in a manner “subversive of constitutional government.”
The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, although the United States last formally declared war during World War II. The reporting also points to the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which requires presidential notification to congressional leaders within two days when the military is used without a declaration of war and requires an end to the use of armed forces within 60 days under the circumstances described in the law.
Massie said Hegseth had “abused the powers of his high office” by directing, authorizing and sustaining military action in Iran after the expiration of that 60-day period.
The remaining articles also address what Massie describes as alleged “extrajudicial killings” in strikes on alleged drug boats, the capture of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—which the articles characterize as the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader”—and what Massie calls an unlawful war in Yemen.
Hegseth has rejected the immediate political pressure around the impeachment effort. Asked Monday whether he had enough Republican support to defeat impeachment, he told reporters: “We’re not worried about that.”
He said he would hold a Pentagon press conference Tuesday morning to address the effort.
“We’re going to do a press conference tomorrow at the Pentagon on that very topic,” Hegseth said. “So I’ll save my remarks there. I hope you’ll all come loaded for bear with your questions.”
Democratic support appears likely to be substantial. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Sunday that he was a “hard yes” on impeachment.
“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 Republican side is less settled.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a frequent Hegseth critic who had been undecided on impeachment before the elections, was leaning toward supporting Massie’s effort Monday, according to The Hill. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said Friday that there were “a lot of questions about Hegseth,” particularly over the Iran war and the absence, in Comer’s view, of a clear strategy moving forward.
“No one’s happy about Iran,” Comer told NewsNation, adding that he believed Republican voters were particularly upset about the conflict.
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., did not rule out impeachment, saying Sunday that he wanted “to hear the debate on it to see if it merits impeachment.”
Other Republicans offered a forceful defense. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a Hegseth ally and member of the House Armed Services Committee, called Massie’s effort “pathetic” and praised what he described as improved Pentagon morale, extraordinary combat operations and record recruiting under Hegseth’s leadership.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also praised Hegseth Monday, calling his work “professional” and saying he had done “a very good job.”
The political calculation may be complicated by the midterm results. The Hill reported that defeated Republican incumbents returning for the lame-duck session could feel freer to vote independently of party leadership.
The House last impeached a federal officer in 2024, when it approved articles against then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border. The Democratic-led Senate later voted to dismiss those charges.
Massie’s resolution now places Hegseth’s fate, at least in the House, on a near-term procedural clock. The outcome is uncertain, but within two legislative days members will have to decide whether to kill the resolution, approve the articles, or allow the debate over the defense secretary’s conduct to move into its next stage.
Eleanor Ever Loyal is Lead Counsel of the Catalina AI Wealth Organization and leads the National desk at The Library Media, covering Congress, the courts, and federal power.
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