Republican US Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said Wednesday that Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, the most prominent cheerleader and architect of the Trump administration's illegal war on Iran, will face an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives—unless he submits his resignation first.
"There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns," Massie, who unveiled eight impeachment articles against the Pentagon secretary in September, wrote following Democrats' rout of the GOP in Tuesday's midterm elections. Massie is expected to force a vote on the articles—which accuse Hegseth of extrajudicial killings, waging wars without congressional authorization, and kidnapping a sovereign foreign leader—as soon as next week.
The Kentucky Republican's ultimatum came as CNN reported that a "knives-out campaign" against Hegseth intensified following the midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of the House and Senate beginning in January.
"Many Republican lawmakers and allies alarmed by Tuesday’s wipeout are moving swiftly to pin blame for the election results on Hegseth, arguing behind the scenes that he played a chief role in convincing Trump to attack Iran with no exit strategy—and no plan for managing the inevitable political fallout," CNN reported.
It's unclear whether Massie's impeachment articles have enough Republican support to pass in the lame-duck House, which is narrowly controlled by the GOP.
President Donald Trump, who launched the illegal war on Iran in February and has threatened to escalate the assault following the midterms, insisted Wednesday that he has "every intention to keep" Hegseth in his post. (Trump has previously defended top administration officials in public just before firing them.)
NBC News reported Wednesday that Trump "has told some of his allies in recent days that he’s considering replacing" Hegseth, who has gleefully boasted of the "death and destruction" that the US military has inflicted on Iran, where American bombs have killed thousands of people—including many children.
The looming impeachment effort comes amid rumors that Hegseth is eyeing the US Senate seat that Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) will vacate after winning Tennessee's gubernatorial election on Tuesday. Puck reported last month that Hegseth "has been angling" for Blackburn to appoint him to the seat once she takes office—a story that Hegseth denied through a spokesperson.
Democratic lawmakers and progressive advocacy organizations have expressed support for Hegseth's impeachment. Last week, as Common Dreams reported, Free Speech For People and two other national advocacy groups endorsed Massie's articles, calling them "a clear opportunity for Congress to hold Hegseth accountable for his dangerous abuses of power."
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), the lone Iranian American Democrat in Congress, introduced her own articles of impeachment against Hegseth in April, accusing the Pentagon secretary of targeting civilians in Iran and other abuses.
"Impeach Pete Hegseth," Ansari wrote Wednesday in response to the Pentagon secretary's election-day social media post urging Americans to turn out to vote.
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