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Rep Massie Introduces Articles of Impeachment Against Defense Secretary Hegseth
Confirmed
In Short: Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of violating the War Powers Resolution and other offenses.
Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, accusing him of 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' including violating the 1973 War Powers Resolution and suppressing free speech.
Massie read eight articles of impeachment for more than an hour, accusing Hegseth of actions that he said were 'contrary to his trust as Secretary of Defense and subversive of constitutional government.
The move comes months after Hegseth campaigned for Massie's primary challenger, and the articles are unlikely to advance in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Massie's seventh article accuses Hegseth of 'Kidnapping of a Sovereign Foreign Leader' for his role in extracting former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from Caracas. Hegseth's press secretary defended the department's actions, stating, 'The entire Department is unified behind the Secretary’s vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first.
Massie also accused Hegseth of ignoring laws to minimize civilian casualties in Iran, specifically mentioning the bombing of a girls' school shortly after the war began.
What's confirmed
- “The entire Department is unified behind the Secretary’s vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first,” press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement.
What's still developing
- The Kentucky Republican said in a news release that Hegseth had abused his office and needed to answer for it.
- Massie entered the resolution as privileged, a maneuver that forces House leaders to take up the measure within two legislative days.
- The move comes months after Hegseth campaigned in Kentucky for Massie’s Trump-endorsed primary challenger, Ed Gallrein, as President Donald Trump urged Republicans to “vote the bum out.” Massie, a libertarian who broke with the party over Iran and the Epstein files, lost that May primary.
- The eight articles of impeachment introduced by Massie, who is one of the most anti-interventionist members of Congress, accuse Hegseth of violating the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which provides a check on the president's power to enter armed conflict without consent from the legislative branch.
- Under Tuesday's motion, the House must vote on the impeachment articles in the next two days.
- Massie said he did not tell anyone that he planned to introduce impeachment articles because GOP leadership "might have canceled" some voting days.
- Article six accuses Hegseth of using his authority to suppress the free speech of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., by retaliating against the senator for his video in which the senator joined a group of other lawmakers in a video which critics claimed encourage active military members to disobey lawful orders.