Rep. Thomas Massie said he deliberately withheld his plans to seek Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment from Republican leaders because he feared they would interfere with his opportunity to present the articles on the House floor.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Rep. Thomas Massie said he intentionally kept Republican congressional leaders unaware of his plan to introduce articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, telling CNN that he feared leadership might prevent him from delivering the lengthy resolution on the House floor.
The Kentucky Republican revealed his decision after spending more than an hour Tuesday reading eight articles of impeachment accusing Hegseth of exceeding his authority in the Iran war and committing other abuses of power. CNN reported that Republican leaders were caught off guard by Massie’s action.
Massie later explained during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins why he had not alerted party leadership beforehand.
“I was afraid that they would do something to subvert me getting on the floor for an hour and 20 minutes and reading these articles,” Massie said, according to The Hill.
Massie separately told reporters that he “didn’t give anybody a heads-up,” saying his experience with previous efforts to force House action led him to believe leadership might alter the legislative schedule if it knew what he was preparing.
His impeachment resolution focuses heavily on the Trump administration’s military campaign against Iran, which began Feb. 28.
Massie argues that Hegseth continued U.S. involvement in hostilities without authorization from Congress beyond the time permitted by the War Powers Resolution. In announcing the impeachment effort, Massie accused the defense secretary of operating in violation of three provisions of the 1973 law.
“By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable,” Massie said when announcing the resolution.
The War Powers Resolution generally requires a president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces in hostilities within 60 days when Congress has neither declared war nor provided specific authorization, subject to provisions contained in the law.
Massie’s eight articles extend beyond the Iran conflict. His resolution also accuses Hegseth of disregarding laws intended to protect civilians, authorizing unlawful military actions elsewhere and retaliating against critics of the administration. Hegseth and the Pentagon have disputed the broader criticism of his leadership, with a Pentagon spokesperson defending him as a “transformative leader” following Massie’s announcement.
Massie told Collins that six of his eight articles concern actions he alleges Hegseth took while carrying out orders from President Donald Trump, while two address conduct he attributes specifically to the defense secretary.
“Six of my eight articles of impeachment are basically implicating Secretary Hegseth for carrying out illegal orders that were given by Donald Trump,” Massie said.
He said the remaining allegations concern Hegseth’s handling of civilian-protection policies within the Defense Department and actions involving Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
Massie introduced the impeachment resolution as a privileged matter, a procedural designation that requires the House to address it within a limited period when the chamber remains in legislative session.
Republican leaders could respond by seeking to table the measure, refer it to a committee or permit consideration of the articles themselves. Massie urged lawmakers not to immediately dispose of the resolution without debating the allegations.
“Even if you’re not sure if you’re going to vote for my resolution to impeach, we should have a robust debate on this,” Massie told Collins. “So, don’t vote to table it yet. Let’s vote not to table it, and then let’s have the debate, and then we can decide whether to vote for it.”
Official House records do not show that Massie’s Hegseth impeachment resolution was tabled Tuesday evening. A separate impeachment resolution involving Trump was tabled Tuesday by a 232-147 vote, with 47 members voting present. Massie’s Hegseth proposal remained a separate matter.
The dispute unfolded alongside a separate congressional challenge to the Iran war.
Later Tuesday, the House voted 220-204 to approve H. Con. Res. 93, directing the president under the War Powers Resolution to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran. Seven Republicans joined 213 Democrats in supporting the measure. Massie voted for the resolution.
It marked the third time the House had voted to end U.S. involvement in the Iran conflict since hostilities began.
Massie has consistently opposed extended U.S. military interventions and has repeatedly argued that Congress must exercise its constitutional authority over decisions involving war.
His decision to surprise Republican leaders with the impeachment resolution followed previous confrontations with House leadership, including over his efforts to force consideration of matters leadership opposed.
Massie said timing was a major factor in bringing the articles forward Tuesday. With House leaders preparing to send members away from Washington for the extended pre-election recess, he said he believed it was his last opportunity before the Nov. 3 midterms to invoke the privileged-resolution process.
“Why today? Because Speaker Johnson has basically canceled the rest of Congress until the elections,” Massie said after introducing the measure. “Two days from now is the end of our session before we go on recess, and there can be a vote within two days. So I had to do it today.”
Massie’s action also comes during his final months in Congress.
He lost Kentucky’s Republican congressional primary in May to Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL backed by Trump, and is scheduled to leave the House when his current term ends in January.
His opposition to the Iran conflict, however, is not confined to his own impeachment effort. Tuesday’s 220-204 war powers vote demonstrated bipartisan support in the House for requiring an end to U.S. hostilities absent congressional authorization, even as lawmakers remain divided over the administration’s handling of Iran.
Massie said his impeachment effort was intended to put his objections to Hegseth’s conduct formally before Congress regardless of whether the House ultimately removes the defense secretary.
His decision to conceal the plan from Republican leaders ensured that the articles reached the House floor before leadership had an opportunity to respond — the result Massie said he was trying to preserve when he chose not to give his party advance notice.
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