Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has reintroduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, triggering a House vote scheduled for the coming days. The resolution lists eight specific charges framing the accusations as high crimes and misdemeanors.
Hegseth has defended himself against the effort, releasing a video in which he dismissed the articles as a “sham” and suggested the impeachment attempt would ultimately fail. President Trump publicly backed his Defense Secretary during a Monday press briefing, stating his support and citing Hegseth’s military service. Hegseth characterized Massie as a “disgruntled defeated congressman,” a reference to Massie’s recent electoral loss in a primary race where Hegseth had campaigned for his opponent.
Massie framed the impeachment effort as addressing fundamental questions about the balance of power between Congress and the executive branch, particularly regarding war powers. He noted that the War Powers Resolution has been largely disregarded by presidents of both parties and suggested impeachment should be understood as a mechanism for congressional oversight rather than a criminal proceeding.
Support and opposition to the effort cut across party lines. Democrats, through presumptive next House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, have signaled backing for an impeachment push. Some Republicans, including Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, have opposed impeachment as hypocritical given the historical pattern of executive branch decisions on military conflicts. Davidson suggested lawmakers opposed to Hegseth’s approach use budgetary mechanisms as an alternative.
Analysts assess that the House could generate sufficient votes for impeachment with support from all Democrats, Massie, and a small number of Republicans. However, removal from office would require a two-thirds Senate majority, a threshold observers say is unlikely to be reached.
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