Rep. Thomas Massie pushes House vote on impeaching Secretary of War Pete Hegseth
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie filed a resolution to force a House vote on impeaching Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, citing the Iran conflict and related operations.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced a resolution on Monday that would require the U.S. House of Representatives to vote on the impeachment of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The measure focuses on the military campaign against Iran and also references operations in Yemen and Venezuela.
Hegseth told reporters that he is prepared to defend the actions taken by the Trump administration in Iran, against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and in the effort to remove former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. He said, "If you want to take issue with what we did in Epic Fury or Rough Rider or nabbing Nicolás Maduro, you're taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished, which is historic."
The secretary announced a news conference for Tuesday, his first in more than 180 days, to address the impeachment effort. He dismissed the move as political noise, stating, "There's a lot of politically motivated people who may have substantial policy disagreements, but their disagreements are with success. My team, we're not worried about the noise — it's what I told the troops, too — don't worry about the noise."
When asked about Vice-President JD Vance's comment linking the Iran campaign to recent Republican losses, Hegseth said he agreed with President Donald Trump that the action was justified. He echoed a remark previously made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a policy does not need to be popular to be necessary.
The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran possesses 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, a step short of weapons-grade material. President Trump defended Hegseth, saying, "He's guilty of two things, basically winning two wars. I believe we saved the Middle East and Israel combined. And it's awfully hard to say let's impeach somebody who did that."
Hegseth maintained that Iran is "devastated" but noted ongoing attacks on U.S. bases and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which have contributed to higher energy prices. He said future decisions on the conflict rest with President Trump.
Since the impeachment resolution was announced, Pentagon officials have posted supportive images of Hegseth, and the White House released a video featuring praise from President Trump.