By Snigdha Chakravarti
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, launched a series of allegations against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth a few weeks back, seeking to impeach Hegseth. Massie deemed that Hegseth illegally started war with Iran among other “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Despite Congress’ push to withdraw the U.S. from war to reduce civilian casualties, Hegseth, according to Massie, simply continued to wage war.
Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment, arguing that Hegseth violated the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which limits the President’s ability to wage war without consent from Congress. Massie also accused Hegseth of violating Congress’ order to mitigate civilian casualties, pointing out the bombing of a girls’ school in Iran at the beginning of the war as an example. The US was found “likely” responsible for the bombing, though it did not intentionally target that school.
On September 15, 2026, Massie voiced out his allegations against Hegseth on the House floor, specifically mentioning how Hegseth abused “powers entrusted to him by retaliating against a member of Congress for constitutionally protected speech, and attempting to subject a member of a coordinate branch of government to executive branch punishment for the exercise of his legislative and oversight responsibilities.” The Iran War has also been unpopular within the US, partially stemming from how the war has contributed to rising costs. As the war approaches 7 months since the start, a recent poll showed that 59% of respondents believe it was wrong to start the war in the first place, while roughly 24% said that starting the war was the right decision. Over 60% of respondents agreed that the war had to be ended quickly. Massie also showed results from another poll, specifically about the impeachment of Hegseth based on starting war without Congress’ consent. About 51% supported Hegseth’s impeachment.
Despite the majority of Americans being dissatisfied with both the war in Iran and Hegseth’s actions, there is only a slim chance that the Republican-led House will vote to impeach him. Several Republicans have praised Hegseth’s leadership throughout the Iran War, including Pentagon Secretary Kingsley Wilson. In a recent statement, Wilson wrote how Hegseth has “been a transformative leader for the Department of War,” adding how the Department has sought to put “our warfighters and America first.”
During his speech on the House floor, Massie spent much of the time criticizing both Hegseth and the “stupid war.” Additionally, Massie criticized how Hegseth sought to change the name of the department from the Department of Defense to the Department of War without Congress’ authorization, implying a connection between this and Hegseth’s decision to continue the war with Iran. House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, referred to Massie’s desire to impeach Hegseth as a “stunt.” Speaker Johnson remarked how Hegseth has done “an extraordinary job” with the Iran War, predicting that” American voters are going to remember that when they head to vote this fall.”
Although the vote to impeach Hegseth was set for this week, Speaker Johnson closed the House early. Therefore, the vote will be postponed until after midterm elections; this is just one of the many voting days Johnson has abruptly canceled, especially legislatures that seek to challenge President Trump. For context, Trump has consistently supported Hegseth, though he has not made any statement so far regarding Massie’s allegations against Hegseth. The coming weeks and months will be a time of turmoil within Congress, having both domestic implications within the US government and international implications with the future of the Iran War.