Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) reintroduced a resolution to impeach US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, whom the Trump administration calls the secretary of war, as the Pentagon chief is coming under pressure following the Republican defeat in the midterm elections, which was seen as a referendum on the Iran war.
Massie first introduced the resolution back in September but reintroduced it to include US military operations that have taken place since then. The resolution is privileged, meaning it must be voted on within two legislative days of introduction.
The resolution includes eight articles of impeachment that cover the Iran war, Hegseth’s ignoring of US laws meant to minimize civilian casualties, the bombing campaign against small boats in Latin America, the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the 2025 US bombing campaign in Yemen, and Hegseth’s efforts to chill the constitutionally protected speech of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
At a press conference after the introduction, Massie stressed that he wasn’t seeking Hegseth’s impeachment because he was bad at his job, but because he is operating in violation of the law, and he encouraged other lawmakers to read eight articles.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘I think Pete Hegseth is effective. He’s good at his job, and so I don’t want to vote for these articles of impeachment.’ Well, the reality is, we’re not impeaching him for being bad at his job,” Massie said.
“In fact, he was very effective at killing schoolchildren in Iran. He was very effective at extrajudicial killings. There’s no argument in these impeachment articles that he’s ineffective. The argument here is that he’s broken laws and he’s violated the Constitution,” he added.
The articles lay out how the Iran war was launched without congressional authorization and has continued despite Congress passing a concurrent War Powers Resolution directing President Trump to end the conflict.
Addressing critics who have said he should have gone after Trump because Hegseth was carrying out the president’s orders, Massie said that there were two articles that “belong” specifically to the Pentagon chief.
“It is true that the president is culpable for asking Hegseth to carry out these orders, but Hegseth should not carry out illegal orders, and that’s why we’re impeaching him. But one of the articles that Hegseth took upon himself … he basically took apart the function inside the Department of Defense that makes sure they’re not going to strike civilians,” Massie said.
“And the predictable and absolute result of that was — they struck all these school kids on the first day of the war,” he said, referring to the February 28 US strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, southern Iran, which killed at least 156 civilians, including 120 children.
“Now there’s something called the fog of war … There’s no fog of war on the first day. You’ve had months to identify these targets, yet they picked a school building on a school day with kids in it, and then struck it again, and then struck it again,” Massie added.
While it’s been clear since shortly after the US bombed the school that it was a US strike, no one in the Trump administration has taken responsibility for it, and the Pentagon continues to delay the release of a report on the massacre.
Hegseth was asked about Massie’s impeachment effort on Monday and told reporters he’s “not worried” about it, though he plans to hold a press conference on it on Tuesday. “I’ll tell you this. Actually, I hope all of you will join us. We’re going to do a press conference tomorrow morning at the Pentagon on that very topic,” he said.
