Republican Congressman Thomas Massie has filed eight articles of impeachment against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth for “high crimes and misdemeanors”, triggering a vote in the House of Representatives later this week.
The Kentucky Republican accused the Pentagon chief of illegally waging a war against Iran without Congressional authorisation and exceeding the limits of his powers.
The resolution also alleges that Hegseth has; ignored the laws to minimise civilian casualties in Iran, allowed for “extrajudicial killings” of 221 people in boat strikes against alleged drug-smugglers in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean and suppressed free speech through a retaliatory campaign against Senator Mark Kelly, in response to the senator’s comments urging military personnel to resist unlawful orders.
The largest of the accusations include; directing the illegal kidnapping of Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, and starting a war with Yemen without prior authorisation in violation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
“Wherefore, Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth, by such conduct, 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 document states.
The resolution concludes that the Pentagon chief should be impeached, removed from office and barred from holding any future government position.
Hegseth denies the accusations
The Defence Secretary rejected the accusations, calling Massie a “disgruntled, defeated congressman” and the impeachment vote a “sham”.
“You see, they attack me. They attack us because we are effective. It’s not going to work. We will not back down,” Hegseth said in a video statement last week.
He replied that he is not worried when asked if the Republicans have enough support at the House to defeat the resolution.
During a media briefing at the White House on Monday, President Donald Trump pledged his continuous support for the defence chief and commended him on doing a “very good job”.
“With recruitment at an ALL-TIME HIGH, from an all-time low under Sleepy Joe Biden, and TWO VICTORIES, Venezuela and Iran, Pete Hegseth should be praised, not Impeached. Congress, stand up for Pete!!!,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Pentagon officials also came to Hegseth’s defence by accusing the Democrats of a “vindictive and baseless impeachment” attempt and vowed to fight back through efforts to equip Americans with the “unvarnished truth about these manufactured articles and the real successes this Department of War is delivering”.
MORE INTERNATIONAL NEWS: South Korea eyes stronger ties with Russia through Arctic shipping route: Analysts
Hegseth unlikely to be removed from office
While it remains uncertain if Massie’s resolution would pass the House, where the Republicans hold the majority until January, its prospects in the Senate appear even slimmer.
Convicting and removing an official from office requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate, a threshold that is unlikely to be met even after the Democrats take control of the chamber, as substantial bipartisan support would still be necessary.
In the nearly 250-year history of the United States, only two Cabinet secretaries have ever been impeached by the House of Representatives (William Belknap in 1876 and Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024), but neither was removed from office by the Senate.
Thomas Massie maintained that Hegseth’s impeachment was necessary to avoid political spectacle next year when the Democrats take over the Congress.
He believes that such a move would allow President Trump to appoint a new head of the Department of War while the Republicans still hold a majority in both chambers.
“My effort to impeach Secretary Hegseth is a much gentler version of what’s coming when the Democrats assume control of the House and Senate next year. They will hold hearings and trials,” Massie warned.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Filipino seafarers to meet dozens of firms at recruitment expo
Levi Mora 
Eugene Nicklaus S. Laqui 
Rosemarie Zamora