Kathrine Frich
Even though the resolution only seeks to impeach the defense boss, he notes that President Donald Trump shares the blame.
When a political party suffers a bruised week at the ballot box, the blame game in Washington rarely takes long to start.
Old grudges quickly spill onto the House floor as outgoing lawmakers use their final days in office to settle scores.
Now, a rebellious Republican has pulled a procedural lever that puts one of the administration’s top figures in the hot seat.
Eight impeachment charges
According to HuffPost journalist Arthur Delaney, Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie forced a snap House vote on Monday to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Under chamber rules, a single member can trigger the process, which forces House Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote within two legislative days.
Massie told HuffPost that if Johnson uses a procedural trick to sidestep the showdown, he will simply launch the effort all over again.
The measure lays out eight articles of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Six of those counts accuse the Pentagon chief of waging the war in Iran illegally without congressional backing, while others target his push to strip the pension and rank of retired Navy captain and Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona after Kelly appeared in a video telling troops to refuse unlawful commands.
“Hegseth went after Sen. Mark Kelly for saying that you don’t have to follow illegal orders, but in fact, that’s what six of these articles of impeachment are: Hegseth carrying out illegal orders that he knew were illegal,” Massie told HuffPost.
Even though the resolution only seeks to impeach the defense boss, Massie noted that President Donald Trump shares the blame: “There are six of these eight articles where both the president and Hegseth are culpable.”
Sweating at the Pentagon
The measure could actually pass the House this week. As HuffPost reported, Democrats are expected to back it, and several Republicans have already soured on Hegseth after the Iran conflict sent gas prices soaring and cost the party control of both the House and Senate in last week’s elections.
Still, removing him from office remains a long shot because conviction requires 67 Senate votes, and Republicans hold 53 seats until Democrats take the majority next year.
While Hegseth tried to project confidence by releasing a video last week and calling a rare Tuesday morning Pentagon briefing, he also subtly pointed the finger at his boss on Monday.
“I couldn’t be more proud of what our president has done, the decisions that he’s made,” Hegseth told reporters when asked about the vote, reminding them who ordered the Iran strikes, according to HuffPost.
Massie has clashed with the White House throughout Trump’s second term, voting against key bills and leading the push to unseal government files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before a Trump-backed primary rival ended his congressional career.
By Monday night, Trump fired back by calling Massie a “loser” and bringing up former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s undisclosed 2024 hospital stay for prostate cancer surgery, though he appeared to forget Austin’s name.
“What about impeaching the gentleman from Biden, his person that disappeared for two weeks and nobody had any idea where he was?” Trump asked, as quoted by HuffPost.
