Massie also accused Hegseth of abusing his office and implementing what he described as unlawful orders to launch a war against a foreign country.
By Kehinde Okeowo
American politician and Republican member representing Kentucky’s 4th congressional district, Thomas Massie, has explained why his impeachment resolution before the United States House of Representatives targets Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, not President Donald Trump.
The federal lawmaker filed articles of impeachment against Hegseth on Monday, November 9, over his handling of the war with Iran.
Massie, while introducing the articles on the House floor, accused the Secretary of War of abusing his office and implementing what he described as unlawful orders to launch a war against a foreign country.
Speaking on Capitol Hill, Massie said that though President Trump “is culpable” by approving several military actions in different countries, Hegseth carried out “unlawful orders”.
”The president needs to see this as a metaphor; one of his horses is shot out from under. The best target is Pete Hegseth,” the congressman told reporters, adding that impeaching Trump is politically “an impossible hurdle.”
”I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do,” he emphasised, saying the move to oust Hegseth is not just about the killing of schoolchildren in Iran or boat strikes, but because “he’s broken the laws and violated the constitution.”
The reintroduced eight articles of impeachment by Massie, the outgoing Republican representative from Kentucky, accused the secretary of abuse of office and “high crimes and misdemeanours”.
Articles 1–3 detail how Hegseth waged war in Iran without Congress’s approval, while Articles 4–8 cite disregard for laws that minimise civilian casualties, extrajudicial killings, suppression of free speech, kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader, and unlawful war in Yemen.
Reacting to the resolution, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “The most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history has to go. The fact that he’s still around makes zero sense.” (Note: “Defense” is kept with the American ‘s’ spelling here as it is part of an official US cabinet title).
Hegseth delivered a speech on Monday at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he stated that he is “not worried” about the bipartisan push against him.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the embattled secretary while speaking in Paris, France, where he is attending the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting.
”Impeaching Pete Hegseth is unfair. Pete’s done a good job,” the top US diplomat said. “He is very smart and brings professionalism.”
According to CNN, a vote on the impeachment motion would have to take place by Wednesday.
