Pete Hegseth says Massie's 8 impeachment articles attack troops and Trump

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday called the eight impeachment articles filed by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie an attack on U.S. troops and President Donald Trump.

The House was expected to decide later Tuesday whether the effort should proceed. Politico said the procedural vote's outcome was unclear. Because Massie filed the measure as privileged on Monday, House rules give Republican leaders two legislative days to bring it to the floor.

"This is not about me," Hegseth told reporters in the Pentagon briefing room, where he held his first news conference in six months. He described the impeachment effort as "a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment."

Massie's articles accuse Hegseth of "waging the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat." They also cite his role in military action against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and in Venezuela. Massie said Hegseth's conduct constitutes "high crimes and misdemeanors" and that his Pentagon leadership "warrants impeachment."

"The law requires our military to withdraw from hostilities within 60 days if Congress does not authorize the activity," Massie wrote on social media Tuesday.

The Iran war, he wrote, "has been underway for 256 days. Congress has not authorized it. Hegseth is breaking the law." Massie lost his Kentucky primary to an opponent backed by Trump and plans to retire from Congress at year's end.

Hegseth disputes grounds for impeachment

Hegseth characterized Massie's objections as "policy disagreements, not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause".

The Iran and Venezuela operations cited in the impeachment effort were "ordered by the commander-in-chief, then ordered by myself," Hegseth said. He argued that, in the nation's 250-year history, no defense secretary has faced impeachment for conducting lawful military operations.

The resolution tells adversaries, including Iran and the cartels, that the United States will punish its warriors and civilian leaders for "lawful military operations," Hegseth said. "This is sabotage," he said.

He compared the effort against him with Trump's two impeachments during his first term, one involving a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the other the 2021 Capitol attack, NBC News reported. "They will fail again, and if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I'll take that company every day of the week," Hegseth said.

Trump praised Hegseth on Truth Social on Tuesday, giving him an "A" plus for his defense against Massie, whom the president called "a TOTAL LOSER." House Speaker Mike Johnson called the effort a "political gambit for attention" and predicted Republicans would defeat it "one way or the other."

Midterm losses and war costs

The impeachment fight comes after sweeping Republican losses in last week's midterms, which many blamed at least in part on the Iran war and its economic effects.

NBC News has reported that the conflict could cost as much as $100 billion and reported frustration among lawmakers of both parties over the information Hegseth has given them about the costs. Trump told reporters Monday that the war "militarily is effectively over."

The articles need a simple House majority to pass, although Republicans could instead seek to kill the resolution by a majority vote. If the House approves the articles, the Senate would determine whether to convict and remove Hegseth.

House Republicans impeached Biden administration Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024 over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. Before trial arguments started, the Senate dismissed every charge.