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Eight articles against the Secretary of Defense (5 min), with captions The story Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed a privileged resolution on ...

Eight articles against the Secretary of Defense (5 min), with captions The story Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed a privileged resolution on Monday, November 9, impeaching Secretary of Defense Peter Brian Hegseth on eight articles. The filing came on the first day the House sat after the midterm elections. Massie is a Republican who lost his own primary in May to a challenger endorsed by the president. Because the resolution was filed as privileged, the House must act on it within two legislative days, putting a floor vote on Wednesday, November 11. The resolution runs over thirty-four pages. Its first three articles all charge the same thing under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, concerning the war in Iran: article one cites section two c, article two cites section five c, and article three cites section five b. Section two c says the President may introduce the armed forces into hostilities only under a declaration of war, specific statutory authorization, or a national emergency created by an attack on the United States or its armed forces. The remaining articles charge ignoring laws meant to minimise civilian casualties, extrajudicial killings over boat strikes in the Caribbean, suppressing free speech, the capture of a sovereign foreign leader, and unlawful war in Yemen. Hegseth has been Secretary of Defense since January 2025, and the resolution refers to him as Secretary of War by the Administration. He has not been charged with a crime, and no chamber or court has made any finding against him. Asked about the effort, he said, "we are not worried about that," and set a Pentagon news conference for Tuesday. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth "will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points." The Clerk of the House puts the chamber at 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats, with one independent and two vacancies. Impeaching takes a simple majority of members voting, and ABC News reports that three Republicans voting with every Democrat would carry it. Massie introduced the same articles in September, and the House adjourned for the midterms without voting on them; filing the resolution as privileged is what forces the vote. President Trump, speaking to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, called Massie "a stone cold loser" and said "Massie has a lot of hatred in his heart." Speaker Mike Johnson said impeaching a Cabinet secretary "in the middle of hostilities abroad" would be "a terrible thing for our allies and our enemies to see." Only two Cabinet secretaries have been impeached in the country's history, and neither was convicted. In 1876, William Belknap, Secretary of War, resigned and the House impeached him anyway; the Senate did not convict. In 2024, Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, was impeached and the Senate dismissed both articles without a trial. Hegseth would be the third. Even if the resolution passes the House, it removes no one. Conviction in the Senate takes two thirds of senators present, or 67 votes, and Republicans hold 53 seats there. The Senate has never convicted a Cabinet secretary. Highlights Highlight In pictures Listen The episode as audio