Republican Lawmaker Moves to Impeach Hegseth Over Iran War

Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky read eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the House floor shortly after the chamber convened on Tuesday. Massie cited Hegseth's violation of multiple provisions of the 1973 War Powers Resolution in launching and waging the war against Iran. He said Hegseth unlawfully initiated the war, defied a congressional order to withdraw US forces, and incurred unnecessary civilian casualties.

"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 in a statement. Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a president generally must end unauthorized US military hostilities within 60 days unless Congress has authorized the action, with an additional 30-day period allowed for an orderly withdrawal. Massie added that "Hegseth's constitutional violations extend beyond the illegal war in Iran." Referring to the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during a US military invasion of the country in early January, Massie said Hegseth "is abusing the power of his office to ignore congressional war powers resolutions, to kidnap foreign leaders." He further stated that Hegseth "abused the powers entrusted to him as Secretary of Defense by subordinating the constitutional limits on the use of military force and the laws governing the conduct of hostilities to his own policy objectives." Congress, Massie said, "must not turn a blind eye to Secretary Hegseth's unconstitutional and illegal actions."

The impeachment push marks a high-profile challenge to a senior Cabinet official by a member of President Donald Trump's own party. The resolution would need a two-thirds majority in the Republican-controlled Senate to convict Hegseth and remove him from office. The House is required to act on Massie's impeachment proposal by Thursday, giving lawmakers little time to consider the measure before leaving Washington for an extended recess that will last through the November midterm elections.

Massie's push for an impeachment vote came as the Pentagon's inspector general released the first formal assessment of losses and operational disruptions stemming from the war on Iran. The report said Iranian retaliatory strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US military bases across West Asia and contributed to shortages of key munitions. Citing communications with US Central Command (CENTCOM), the special report said Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan between February 28 and June 30. The assessment also acknowledged the depletion of key US munitions stockpiles during the war, while noting that earlier attacks had destroyed critical military assets, including missile-defense radar installations. The report said the Iranian strikes forced CENTCOM to alter the way US forces operated across the region, as the command "shifted personnel, assets and storage facilities" in response to attacks by Iran and allied forces. The report warned that some of the changes to the US military presence in West Asia could become permanent, as American military and intelligence officials have discussed the possibility of long-term reductions in personnel and facilities across the region. According to Mehr News, the impeachment resolution and the inspector general's report together underscore the ongoing political and military fallout from the conflict.