Republican congressman Thomas Massie has filed a resolution to impeach Pete Hegseth, accusing the US defence secretary of abusing his office by waging war against Iran without congressional approval and in the absence of an imminent threat.
Massie, a Kentucky representative who has broken with President Donald Trump and his administration on several major issues, read the resolution to the House on Monday afternoon, US time.
The document contains eight articles of impeachment. It alleges that Hegseth violated the War Powers Resolution of 1973, disregarded laws intended to limit civilian casualties, ordered extrajudicial killings and suppressed free speech.
Massie also accused the defence secretary of kidnapping a foreign leader and conducting an unlawful war in Yemen through Operation Rough Rider in March 2025.
Allegations over Iran war
In remarks to the House, Massie said Hegseth had “knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders to initiate war against a foreign nation [Iran]” without authorisation from Congress.
He alleged that Hegseth continued to breach the law by ignoring a congressional resolution directing the president to withdraw US forces from hostilities with Iran.
Massie also cited the death or injury of more than 200 civilians at Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, on the first day of the conflict. He said the school had been struck by three BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from US Navy warships while pupils were inside.
The Pentagon has not admitted responsibility for the incident. Massie alleged that Hegseth had dismantled safeguards designed to distinguish civilian sites from military targets, saying the secretary had “effected the murder of civilians” and required military operations to be carried out under a deliberately degraded targeting and legal-review system.
Other allegations concern the deaths of 243 people described as suspected drug traffickers on small boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. Massie said Hegseth had assumed the powers of “judge, jury and executioner” by determining who could live or die without establishing a lawful basis for treating those people as military targets.
The congressman further accused Hegseth of trying to intimidate Democratic senator Mark Kelly over criticism, and of being involved in the abduction of Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolás Maduro.
Hegseth dismisses impeachment attempt
Hegseth defended his record while speaking briefly to reporters on Monday and dismissed the proceedings as politically motivated. He said he was not concerned about securing enough votes to defeat the resolution.
“There’s a lot of politically motivated people who may have substantial policy disagreements – but their disagreements are with success,” Hegseth said.
He cited what he described as achievements including persuading European partners to take on a greater role, building a counter-cartel coalition in central and South America, and military operations named Midnight Hammer, Absolute Resolve, Southern Spear and Epic Fury.
“We know the world is a better and safer place as a result,” he said.
Trump has continued to support Hegseth despite speculation that the defence secretary could be removed from the cabinet. During an interview broadcast on Sunday, the president called the impeachment effort “very unfair”.
“We had two wars, we won both. We won Venezuela, we won Iran,” Trump said. “How do you impeach a guy – we had two wars, we won them both, let’s impeach him.”
Republicans control both chambers of Congress until January. The resolution could pass the House if a small number of Republicans join Democrats, but Hegseth would have to be convicted by the Senate before he could be removed from office.
