A Republican just forced a House vote to impeach America's Defense Secretary
3 days ago · 10 November 2026Share
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signs a memorandum at the Pentagon on April 23, 2025. File photo. U.S. Secretary of Defense · Public domain
A Republican congressman just forced his own party into a corner.
Thomas Massie, from Kentucky, has reintroduced articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth, America's Defense Secretary.
And this time, House Republican leaders can't just ignore it.
Here's why. Massie filed it a few hours ago as a privileged resolution. Under House rules, that forces a floor vote within two legislative days. The vote is expected within days.
So what's actually in it? The resolution is 34 pages long. Eight articles of impeachment.
Three of them accuse Hegseth of abusing the Defense Department's powers by waging war on Iran without Congress ever authorising it.
The rest point to the Pentagon's strikes on boats in the Caribbean — called extrajudicial killings in the resolution, and said to have killed at least 243 people in international waters. The capture of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's former president, which the articles call a kidnapping. An unauthorised military operation in Yemen. And the Pentagon's treatment of Senator Mark Kelly, after he posted a video telling troops they could refuse illegal orders.
This isn't Massie's first try. He brought the same fight two months ago, in September. House GOP leaders recessed the chamber early and the vote never happened.
Not this time. Filing it as privileged takes that choice away from them.
So how does this actually work? A simple majority in the House is enough to impeach Hegseth. Republicans hold a narrow majority — reported as 218 to 214, though that exact number isn't confirmed twice from direct sources, so treat it as approximate. A handful of Republicans crossing over would be enough.
But impeachment isn't removal. If the House does impeach him, the Senate would need a two-thirds vote to convict and remove him — 67 votes, a much higher bar, in a chamber Republicans still control. Republicans could also dodge a real vote entirely, by moving to table the resolution or send it to committee. Either one only needs a simple majority too.
And here's something about Massie himself. He's not sticking around to see how this plays out. He lost his primary earlier this year to a Trump-backed challenger and is leaving Congress at the end of this term.
The rest of this story is for members.
People seated in the gallery of the House of Representatives chamber in the U.S. Capitol. File photo. National Photo Company Collection · Public domain
Now the timing. Republicans took heavy losses in the midterms last week. Several Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, have said the unpopular war with Iran was part of the reason why. Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate, and take control when the new Congress starts in January.
On the House floor, Massie says quote "demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution". He also said the question is whether Hegseth committed impeachable acts, and the answer is yes, eight times. And he called his own effort a much gentler version of what's coming once Democrats run both chambers next year.
Trump is standing by his man. He told CNN he would stand by Hegseth, and called Massie a stone cold loser.
Hegseth told reporters earlier today, "we're not worried about that." He also said he agreed with Trump — he'd launch the war with Iran again if he had to. Hegseth is holding a Pentagon news conference tomorrow to address all of this. His first in more than 180 days.
And here's the thing — Republicans are not lined up behind him.
Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, said impeaching Hegseth while fighting continues abroad would be a terrible look. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, says there are a lot of questions about Hegseth, and that Republican voters are more upset about Iran than Democrats are. French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas, wants to hear the debate first. Don Bacon, a retiring Nebraska Republican, says he's still wrestling with it, because impeachment needs a high crime or misdemeanour, not just poor performance. Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio, calls the whole push a mistake — scapegoat politics, in his words.
Democrats, on the other hand, are already united.
Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader tipped to become speaker next year, called himself a hard yes on impeachment a few days ago. He called Hegseth the architect of a reckless and costly failed war of choice in Iran, and said he's got to go.
So where does that leave the numbers? Massie told reporters earlier today that no Republican has committed to voting for impeachment. Earlier this month, he put the odds of his resolution passing at 50-50.
If the House does impeach Hegseth, and the Senate convicts him, he becomes only the third Cabinet secretary in American history removed this way. William Belknap, Secretary of War, impeached in 1876 and later acquitted. Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary, impeached in 2024, charges later dismissed.
So three questions nobody can answer yet. Will any Republicans cross over? How close will the vote actually be? And would the Senate convict, even if the House impeaches him?
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