Republican Rep. Massie moves to impeach Defense Secretary Hegseth over Iran war

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, moved to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday over the Iran war. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky moved Tuesday to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over the war in Iran.

Congressman Massie, a long-time critic of the Trump administration, read the articles of impeachment aloud from the House floor just after the chamber convened at noon. Massie alleges that Hegseth has waged the Iran war illegally, among other "high crimes and misdemeanors."

Massie alleges that Hegseth initiated the conflict unlawfully, defied Congress' order to withdraw from the conflict and incurred unnecessary civilian casualties.

Massie has repeatedly clashed with members of his own party in recent years and is ending his time in office after losing his primary to an opponent backed by President Trump. Massie's clashes with Trump extend beyond the war with Iran. Working alongside Democrat Ro Khanna of California, Massie led the successful effort to compel the Trump administration to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Republicans in theory have enough votes to defeat the proposal, though it could be a complicated vote for their members in competitive elections districts.
The war, which is incredibly unpopular among the American public, has contributed to rising costs in the United States.

The administration maintains the conflict was necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, though experts maintain the country was not close to developing one before the conflict began six months ago.

"Secretary Hegseth has been a transformative leader for the Department of War," Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson wrote in a statement to NPR. "The entire Department is unified behind the Secretary's vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first."

The House will have to act on Massie's proposal by Thursday, a quick turnaround. The body is set to leave Washington this week for an extended recess that will end after the midterm elections in November.