U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth defended his handling of the Iran war on Tuesday, rejecting claims he had broken the law and saying American forces remained ready to strike Iran again if necessary even as Congress prepared to consider articles of impeachment against him.
At a Pentagon press conference one day after outgoing Republican Rep. Thomas Massie read eight articles of impeachment on the House floor, Hegseth called the effort a “political spectacle” driven by policy disagreements.
“It’s a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” Hegseth said. “Time for one man’s final days in Congress to try to do damage to this president, this country and, most irresponsibly, the warriors who defend it.”
“The proper remedy for a policy disagreement — it’s legislation, it’s debate, it’s the next presidential election,” Hegseth added.
President Donald Trump, for his part, signaled strong support for Hegseth, saying on Truth Social the cabinet secretary “gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman.”
Massie’s campaign presents Congress with an immediate test of its willingness to challenge the Trump administration’s use of military force against Iran. Democrats won control of both chambers in last week’s midterm elections, but Republicans retain their majorities until the new Congress takes office Jan. 3.
Massie, a Kentucky Republican who lost his primary to a Trump-backed opponent this year, argued the question now is whether Hegseth had complied with the law, rather than whether lawmakers approved of his performance.
“There’s no argument in these impeachment articles that he’s ineffective,” Massie told reporters outside the Capitol building on Monday. “The argument here is that he’s broken laws and he’s violated the Constitution.”
The first three articles of impeachment concern the Iran war. They accuse Hegseth of conducting military operations without congressional authorization; continuing them despite a June congressional resolution calling for withdrawing U.S. forces; and exceeding the War Powers Resolution’s time limits.
Other articles accuse him of dismantling safeguards against civilian casualties, directing “unauthorized lethal military targeting” of suspected drug traffickers at sea, retaliating against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over protected speech, and conducting unauthorized military operations in both Venezuela and Yemen.
Hegseth said the operations were lawful, ordered by the president and reported to Congress as required.
“I stand behind every one of these operations,” he said. “I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow.”
What Happens Now?
Massie is seeking consideration of impeachment as a privileged resolution, giving it priority over ordinary House business. After Massie’s introduction of the articles, House Speaker Mike Johnson must schedule consideration within two days.
Johnson, however, said on Monday he opposed the effort. Impeaching Hegseth during hostilities abroad would send a damaging message to allies and adversaries alike, he said.
“We don’t impeach cabinet secretaries for political gain or for cheap tricks, and I think that’s what this is,” Johnson said.
The House scheduled a procedural vote to block the privileged resolution for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Massie needs all Democrats and two more Republicans to join him in defeating the procedural vote for his impeachment effort to go forward to debate.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become speaker in January, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he was a “hard yes” on Massie’s resolution. He predicted “incredibly strong support” among Democrats but said they would discuss it during the week.
In the Senate, Republican Majority Leader John Thune was noncommittal.
“We’ll see what their ultimate decision is over there,” he said of the House. “We’ll have to deal with it accordingly here.”
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who is expected to become majority leader in January, explicitly called for Hegseth’s removal.
“The Senate needs to put Pete Hegseth on trial so we can remove him for his catastrophic failure in Iran,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday.
Asked Tuesday about Schumer’s remarks, Hegseth said he was ready to defend the administration’s national security record.
“Let’s do it,” he said. “I’ll see you there.”
How Impeachment Works
The U.S. Constitution says “all civil Officers of the United States,” which includes cabinet members, can be removed for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Articles of impeachment originate in the House, where a simple majority can approve them. An impeached official is not automatically removed from office.
The Senate then holds a trial, with House members acting as prosecutors. Conviction requires a two-thirds vote of senators present. In a second vote, a simple majority can bar the official from future federal office. Impeachment is not a criminal verdict, and its penalties stop there.
“High crimes and misdemeanors,” a term from British legal tradition, means misconduct by a public official against the state and may or may not include actual crimes. Officials can be criminally prosecuted after removal, but that process is separate from Congress.
Only two cabinet secretaries have ever been impeached. In 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant’s Secretary of War William Belknap was unanimously impeached for corruption the afternoon after he resigned in disgrace. The Senate voted that it still had jurisdiction even though he had resigned, but then acquitted him.
In February 2024, in a 214-213 vote, the House impeached President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of the southern border. The Senate later dismissed both articles on party-line votes without holding a trial.
Further Strikes Remain Possible
At his media appearance, Hegseth’s defense of the war also included a warning that military action against Iran remained an option, although he announced no new strikes on Tuesday.
Asked how Washington could stop Iran from rebuilding its capabilities without strikes, Hegseth said the United States was monitoring Iranian nuclear sites. “If we saw the kind of nefarious activity that required action, we would take it,” he said.
He defended the continuing naval blockade, arguing that pressure on Iran’s energy revenues and damage to its industrial facilities limited its ability to rebuild.
Asked about Vice President JD Vance’s assessment that the war was “the reason” for the Republican Party’s midterm election losses, Hegseth declined to engage in “finger-pointing” and said the administration would learn lessons from the conflict.
But he stood by the decision to launch strikes against Iran in February, saying it was necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
