Hegseth faces possible impeachment over Iran war, boat strikes and Maduro Raid

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, accusing the country’s top civilian defense official of usurping congressional power to wage war, overseeing extrajudicial killings abroad and attempting to suppress a member of Congress’ freedom of speech.

Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth in the House of Representatives. 

The first set of articles are related to Hegseth initiating and continuing war with Iran. They charged Hegseth with entering into war with Iran without congressional authorization; ignoring a congressional resolution to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran; and carrying out a war past the 30-day time limit without congressional approval.

Following articles allege that Hegseth ignored laws that minimize civilian casualties; directed extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean; retaliated against a member of Congress for their speech; kidnapped the sovereign head of a foreign government; and waged an “unlawful war” in Yemen without congressional approval. 

Massie also accused Hegseth of moving to suppress free speech, citing the legal cases Hegseth brought against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az.) for participating in a video where members of Congress urged troops not to follow illegal orders. 

With regard to Venezuela, Massie wrote that the raid and extradition of President Nicolás Maduro constituted an unlawful removal, or kidnapping, of a sovereign foreign leader for a “regime change and the acquisition of foreign oil.”

In Massie’s allegations that Hegseth flouted civilian harm reduction laws, the Republican lawmaker said that Hegseth directed military operations “in a manner that resulted in the death or injury of more than 200 civilians” at an elementary school in Minab, Iran. Massie accused Hegseth of weakening measures to protect civilians — like eliminating funding for an Army database for recording civilian harm, and removing 90% of Civilian Harm Mitigation and

Response staff assigned to combatant commands — and cultivating a “war-making culture” in the department. 

In the U.S. military’s ongoing boat strikes near and around Latin America and Asia, Massie pointed to the more than 200 people killed in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean and labeled them “extrajudicial killings.” According to the articles of impeachment, Hegseth directed the use of lethal military force without a “lawful basis for treating such persons or vessels as military targets.” Hegseth is also accused of directing “the unlawful use of lethal military force, resulting in the summary execution of at least 243 persons in international waters,” Massie writes, adding that the secretary used his office “to compel members of the Armed Forces to carry out such operations under false legal authorities that he caused to be constructed and imposed upon the chain of command.”

Hegseth is also accused of carrying out a war in Yemen without congressional authorization, despite what Massie characterizes as the lack of an “imminent threat” to U.S. military personnel and American citizens posed by Houthi militants. The weeks-long campaign resulted in hundreds of deaths from more than 1,100 U.S. strikes. As part of his argument pointing to the lack of a threat, Massie cited messages from a leaked Signal chat with Hegseth and other top Trump administration officials. During the chat, Vice President JD Vance floated the idea of pausing operations for a month and Hegseth told national security officials: “We can easily pause.”

Closer to home, Massie accused Hegseth of moving to suppress free speech, citing the legal cases Hegseth brought against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az.) for participating in a video where members of Congress urged troops not to follow illegal orders. 

With regard to Venezuela, Massie wrote that the raid and extradition of President Nicolás Maduro constituted an unlawful removal, or kidnapping, of a sovereign foreign leader for a “regime change and the acquisition of foreign oil.”

“In all of this, Secretary Hegseth has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Secretary of Defense and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States of America,” Massie wrote. “Wherefore, Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.”

A congressional vote is not expected until later this week.

Hegseth dismissed the potential actions against him on Monday. 

“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,” Hegseth said to reporters, referencing the initial phases of the Iran war, the 2025 campaign in Yemen and the January attack on Venezuela.