Hegseth Impeachment Vote by Wednesday: Massie Refiles Eight Articles as the House Returns
Rep. Thomas Massie read a 34-page impeachment resolution against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth onto the House floor Monday. Because it is privileged, House leaders must act within two legislative days — and every option in front of them is a recorded vote.
The lame-duck House opened Monday with an impeachment fight. Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican, refiled eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a privileged resolution — a filing House leaders cannot park. Under the privilege rules they must act within two legislative days, which puts a vote, a motion to table, or a motion to refer the articles to committee on the calendar by Wednesday.
The 34-page resolution charges Hegseth with high crimes and misdemeanors. Three articles say the Iran war itself was unlawful: begun February 28 with no declaration of war or authorization from Congress, continued after both chambers passed a resolution ordering the forces out, and waged past the War Powers Resolution's 60-day clock, which the articles say ran out May 1 with no extension certified. A fourth accuses him of defeating the federal law on preventing civilian harm, tied to a Tomahawk strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, which the articles say killed at least 156 civilians, at least 120 of them schoolchildren. The remaining articles cover lethal strikes on suspected drug boats — at least 221 people killed, the articles say, including a second strike on survivors — retaliation against Sen. Mark Kelly over his video telling troops they can refuse illegal orders, the January operation that captured Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, and the Yemen bombing campaign. The charges are allegations in a charging document; no court or inspector general has found them proven.
This is Massie's second run at the same vote. He first filed the articles on September 15; the next day Speaker Mike Johnson cancelled the rest of the week and sent the House home for its seven-week campaign recess, and the notice expired. Johnson called the resolution a publicity stunt at the time and promised, in the National News Desk's account, 'It will immediately be tabled, of course.' A motion to table remains leadership's cleanest exit — it kills the resolution without a vote on the charges themselves — but it is still a recorded vote, and if it fails, the articles themselves come up.
The arithmetic is why the week is live. Impeachment takes a simple majority, and ABC News put the count plainly: three Republicans voting with all Democrats would prevail. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he is a 'hard yes.' Republicans are publicly split — Oversight Chairman James Comer declined to back the effort, Rep. Don Bacon said he will weigh the debate, and Rep. French Hill told CBS News a poor job rating 'doesn't mean per se that he's committed an impeachable offense.' Hegseth answered Monday in a video, calling the filing 'sham articles of impeachment' from 'a disgruntled, defeated congressman'; he told reporters he is 'not worried about' it and will hold a Pentagon news conference Tuesday morning. President Trump has said he has 'every intention to keep' Hegseth. If the House does impeach, Hegseth would be only the third Cabinet secretary in American history to face it — and removal would still require two-thirds of the Senate.
