Republican Congressman Thomas Massie plans to force a vote on articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth next week. Multiple Republicans said they expect the legislation will pass the House.
In September, Massie announced he would force the House to vote on eight articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The articles include allegations that Hegseth broke the law by waging multiple undeclared wars.
“By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable,” said Massie. “Secretary Hegseth’s constitutional violations extend beyond the illegal war in Iran. He is abusing the power of his office to ignore congressional war powers resolutions, to kidnap foreign leaders, and to intimidate critics of the Trump administration by retaliating against them for exercising free speech.”
He continued, “If we are to remain true to our oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States,’ Congress must not turn a blind eye to Secretary Hegseth’s unconstitutional and illegal actions.”
However, the vote was delayed when House Speaker Mike Johnson started the midterm recess early. Following the midterm elections, Massie announced that he would force the vote once the House returned from recess.
GOP sources told CNN that they expect the impeachment of Hegseth to pass the House. Passing the Hegseth legislation would require Republicans, other than Massie, to vote in favor of impeaching the Secretary of War. While the Democrats secured a sweeping victory on Tuesday, the newly elected members of Congress will not be seated until January.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump expressed his support for Hegseth remaining in his current role. “I think he’s doing a very good job,” he told reporters.
On Thursday, Massie suggested that Trump should fire Hegseth and appoint a new Secretary of War before Republicans lose their majorities in Congress. “If Trump’s going to replace appointees like Hegseth, he should do it while he can still get the replacements confirmed in the Senate,” he wrote on X. “Also, my Hegseth impeachment resolution is a much gentler version of what’s coming when Dem’s control Congress. They’ll have hearings & trials.”
The US has waged two wars against Iran under Trump and Hegseth without Congressional approval. The war against Iran started in February, and Congress is yet to approve a Declaration of War or Authorization for Use of Military Force.
While the Constitution requires the President to obtain a Declaration of War from Congress before starting a war, the framers’ intent to limit executive power has been watered down over time. Still, the consensus in Washington is that the President can wage war for only 90 days before ending the engagement or getting approval from Congress.
In addition to waging an undeclared war against Iran, under Hegseth, the US has also bombed vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, Yemen, and Venezuela without any approval from the Legislature.
