A Republican congressman has introduced articles of impeachment against US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, forcing a House vote this week over accusations that he waged war against Iran without congressional approval.
Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed the privileged resolution on Monday, accusing Hegseth of high crimes and misdemeanours in a 34-page document containing eight articles. The move requires House leaders to schedule a vote within two legislative days.
Three of the articles centre on the ongoing conflict with Iran. Massie charged that Hegseth “waged the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat,” describing the conflict as unlawful from its inception. Other charges allege he ignored congressional directives to end hostilities and continued operations after the War Powers Resolution’s time limits expired.
Further articles accuse Hegseth of failing to minimise civilian casualties, citing a US strike on an Iranian school, conducting extrajudicial killings in maritime operations against suspected drug traffickers, suppressing free speech by targeting critics, and carrying out unauthorised military actions involving Venezuela and Yemen.
“In all of this, Secretary 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,” the resolution states.
Massie, who lost his primary earlier this year and is leaving Congress, told reporters that Congress had “exhausted every other remedy.” He warned that if the current Republican-controlled Senate does not act, the matter would pass to a Democratic majority after the midterms.
President Donald Trump criticised Massie, calling him a “loser” with “a lot of hatred in his heart.” Hegseth is expected to hold a rare press conference to address the allegations.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has indicated support for the measure. A simple majority in the House would send the articles to the Senate for a possible trial.
