Hegseth could face impeachment vote in coming days as House returns

Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could face a vote on articles of impeachment in the House as early as this week, with members of both parties frustrated with his handling of the war with Iran and Republicans reeling from their defeats in the midterm elections.

Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill on Monday to reconvene for the final weeks of the GOP-controlled Congress, and Republican leaders could be forced to bring an impeachment resolution up for a vote within days.

Even before the midterm elections highlighted voters’ concerns about the war in Iran and its impact on the cost of living, the push to impeach Hegseth was underway in Congress. GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has broken with the administration on a number of fronts over the past year, introduced articles of impeachment against the defense secretary in September. House GOP leaders recessed the chamber early, pushing off a vote on the issue until November. 

Now, Massie is expected to introduce updated impeachment articles on Monday to comply with parliamentary procedure, according to a source familiar with the effort, restarting a two-day clock for GOP leaders to schedule a vote.

In a 34-page impeachment resolution with eight articles, Massie accused Hegseth of high crimes and misdemeanors. Three articles accuse him of abusing the powers of the Department of Defense by waging war against Iran without congressional authorization. 

Massie also alleged that in the conflict, Hegseth ignored laws that minimize civilian casualties, citing the strike on an Iranian school earlier this year. Another impeachment article points to the Pentagon’s boat strikes in the Caribbean, while one cites the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Another centers on free speech and the Pentagon’s scrutiny of Sen. Mark Kelly after he was among a group of lawmakers who released a video calling on service members to “refuse illegal orders.” 

Massie argued that Hegseth “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.”

“Peter Brian Hegseth thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States,” Massie wrote.

Hegseth has criticized the effort by Massie, who’s leaving Congress after losing his primary earlier this year. 

“A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly, just like they tried against President Trump twice,” Hegseth said in a video posted on X last week. “You see, their policies don’t work, so their obsession with political theater disguised as power drives them to try to destroy their opponents. It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me.”

Hegseth told reporters Monday, “we’re not worried about that.” He said he planned to hold a news conference on the impeachment effort Tuesday morning. 

Whether other Republicans support the effort remains to be seen. But some GOP members appeared more open to the prospect, and more eager to criticize the defense secretary, after the brutal losses for their party in the midterms.

Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who leads the House Oversight Committee, said on News Nation that “there’s a lot of questions about Hegseth.”

“We have no idea what the strategy is moving forward in Iran. No one’s happy about Iran,” Comer said. “I think the Republican voters are more upset about what’s going on in Iran than the Democrat voters.” 

GOP Rep. French Hill of Arkansas indicated that he’s still considering whether to support the effort, saying on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday that he wants to hear the debate on the issue “to see if it merits impeachment versus some other disciplinary action or action by the president if he’s not getting the job done in leading the Department of War.”

“If you don’t think he’s done a good job conducting his job, that doesn’t mean per se that he’s committed an impeachable offense,” Hill said. 

Retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who has been critical of the administration on some issues, said he’s “wrestling” with whether to support the impeachment resolution. 

He said Hegseth’s handling of a number of topics “bothers me” and “I feel like he deserves a little bit of his own treatment, but that’s not the right way to handle impeachment.” 

“I don’t think he’s been a good secretary, but do you impeach a guy for that? It has to be a high crime or misdemeanor,” Bacon told reporters Monday at the Capitol. 

Democrats are widely expected to support the impeachment effort. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that he’s a “hard yes” on the impeachment effort. But with a narrow GOP majority, Republican votes will be needed. 

Massie said in a post on X on Monday that he’s seen some of his colleagues say “Hegseth has been effective and they agree with the war, so they’ll vote not to impeach.” But he said “that’s not the question.”

“The question is whether he committed impeachable acts,” Massie said. “And the answer is yes, eight times.”

Hegseth would be the third Cabinet secretary in history to be impeached. Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached in 1876 over corruption allegations. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached by the GOP-controlled House in 2024 over the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border. Belknap was acquitted by the Senate. Mayorkas had his charges dismissed.