Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie forces vote on eight articles of impeachment, accusing Hegseth of defying Congress, violating war powers and causing civilian deaths as midterm losses fuel pressure on Trump administration.
A Republican congressman has reignited a bid to impeach US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of waging an unlawful war against Iran, defying congressional authority and overseeing operations that inflicted heavy civilian casualties.
Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a longtime critic of military interventions and of President Donald Trump, has pledged to reintroduce privileged articles of impeachment when the House of Representatives returns to session next week. The move comes days after Republicans suffered sweeping losses in the 2026 midterm elections, losses that party figures including Vice President JD Vance have partly attributed to public backlash against the prolonged and unpopular conflict with Iran.
Massie first introduced the 34-page resolution on the House floor in mid-September 2026. He read eight articles of impeachment aloud, charging Hegseth with “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The core allegations centre on the Iran war, which began in late February 2026 without a formal declaration of war or specific congressional authorisation.
Massie Accuses Hegseth of War Powers Violations in Impeachment Bid:
According to the resolution, Hegseth “abused the powers entrusted to him as Secretary of Defense by subordinating the constitutional limits on the use of military force and the laws governing the conduct of hostilities to his own policy objectives.” The first three articles specifically cite violations of the 1973 War Powers Resolution. Massie alleges that the Defence Department continued hostilities beyond the 60- and 90-day limits without approval, ignored a June congressional resolution directing the withdrawal of US forces, and treated the executive branch as having unilateral authority to start and sustain war.
A particularly damning article focuses on a US airstrike on 28 February against the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School (also referred to in some reports as a girls’ school in Minab). Iranian state media reported that the attack killed at least 168 people, the majority of them children. Massie argued the strike “exposed systemic failures in the Department of Defense targeting process” and that Hegseth ignored laws intended to minimise civilian harm. A preliminary Pentagon assessment later indicated the United States was “likely” responsible, though it denied intentional targeting of the school. Full findings of an internal investigation have not been publicly released.
This also accuse Hegseth of broader abuses, including operations elsewhere that Massie describes as exceeding legal authority, such as strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Separate counts allege suppression of free speech through threats against critics, including Democratic Senator Mark Kelly.
Massie, who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger earlier in 2026 and is serving out his final months in office, made the resolution privileged. That procedural step forces the House to vote within a short window. In September, Republican leadership adjourned the chamber early, delaying consideration until after the midterms. With Democrats now set to take control of both chambers in January, Massie has framed his effort as a milder alternative to the investigations and potential further action expected under the incoming majority.
“There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns,” Massie posted on social media. He has also warned that his resolution is “a much gentler version of what’s coming when Dems control Congress. They’ll have hearings & trials.”
Hegseth has responded defiantly. In a video message released on 5 November, the former Fox News host and Trump ally dismissed the impeachment effort as a “sham” driven by “the politics of personal destruction.” Standing outside the Department of War (as the Pentagon is sometimes referred to by the administration), he defended the Iran campaign as a “courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.” He invoked Trump’s own two impeachments, declaring: “It didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.” Hegseth vowed that “we don’t back down” and urged lawmakers to support additional defence funding for the ongoing conflict and other priorities.
Trump Backs Hegseth as Impeachment Push Gains Momentum:
President Trump has publicly backed his defence secretary, telling reporters that Hegseth is “doing a very good job” and indicating he has no plans to remove him, even while acknowledging that the war contributed to the midterm setbacks. Trump has said he would make the same decision on Iran again.
The impeachment push highlights deep fractures within the Republican Party over war powers, the human cost of the Iran conflict, and accountability for executive-branch officials. Massie, one of the most consistent anti-interventionist voices in Congress, has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration on military matters. Democrats, who previously introduced their own impeachment articles against Hegseth earlier in 2026, are expected to support Massie’s resolution. Some Republican sources have indicated that post-election pressure could produce enough GOP votes for the measure to pass the House, though conviction and removal would still require a two-thirds majority in the Senate-an outcome many observers consider unlikely in the current session.
For critics in the region and beyond, the case against Hegseth underscores long-standing concerns about US unilateral military action, the erosion of congressional war powers, and the toll on civilian populations. Iranian authorities have long condemned the war and specific strikes as violations of international law. The school bombing, in particular, has become a symbol of the conflict’s human cost in Iranian media and among international human-rights monitors.
As Congress reconvenes, the vote on Hegseth’s impeachment will test whether lawmakers are prepared to reassert constitutional checks on the use of force-or whether political calculations will once again shield the architects of a war that has already reshaped the political landscape in Washington and exacted a heavy price across the Middle East.