Massie Moves to Impeach Hegseth, Reveals Secret Plan to GOP Leaders

5:04 PM ETDeveloping

Politics Desk

In Short: Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of defying Congress and continuing operations in Iran without authorization.

Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced a resolution Tuesday to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of defying Congress and illegally continuing the U.S. operations in Iran, according to reports from Axios and Fox News.

Massie's resolution is privileged, meaning he can force a full House vote, putting Republicans on the record over Hegseth's handling of the Iran war, according to Axios.

Massie contends that Hegseth had illegally prosecuted the Iran war past the 60-day maximum for conflict without congressional authorization, as reported by Justthenews.

The House will have to consider Massie’s articles by tomorrow, but GOP leaders could move to vote on tabling the resolution instead, according to Fox News.

Massie had kept his impeachment articles a secret from party leaders until he read it aloud on the House floor.

What's confirmed

Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced a resolution Tuesday to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of defying Congress and illegally continuing the U.S.

What's still developing

Driving the news: Massie's resolution accuses Hegseth of carrying out orders to continue operations in Iran despite Congress' constitutional authority over war and its votes seeking to end the conflict.
Zoom out: Hegseth already faced a separate impeachment push from House Democrats, who introduced six articles against him in April that included allegations he waged an unauthorized war against Iran.
Scott Applewhite/AP Photo) Massie contends that Johnson sent everyone home early to avoid a vote related to Hegseth.
If the House had brought up Massie’s impeachment articles, Republicans would likely have offered "a motion to table." This is an effort to kill Massie’s gambit.
Thus, the vote would not have been on impeaching Hegseth, but whether or not to set aside Massie’s plan.
The House never even considered the actual impeachment resolutions.
But, if the motion to table fails, the House then considers the articles of impeachment.
Speaking to Collins, Massie said he had kept the resolution a secret to avoid being obstructed by party leadership.

Sources

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