Massie reads eight impeachment articles against Hegseth over Iran, Yemen and Venezuela

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky walked onto the House floor on Tuesday and read eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The 34-page resolution accuses Hegseth of waging the Iran war without a declaration or a statute, of ignoring later votes that told him to pull forces back, and of keeping the fight going after the War Powers Resolution's 60-day clock and the extra 30-day withdrawal window had both run out.

"By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable," Massie said. The first article treats the war as unlawful from the start. The second says Hegseth disobeyed both chambers when they directed a withdrawal. The third says he continued the war after the statutory clock expired. The fourth cites a strike on an Iranian primary school that killed more than 100 children. The fifth accuses him of replacing maritime law enforcement with lethal targeting of suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

Article six concerns Sen. Mark Kelly, the Arizona Democrat and retired Navy captain. After Kelly appeared in a video telling service members they could refuse illegal orders, Hegseth moved to demote him. Massie calls that retaliation against a member of Congress for protected speech. Article seven covers Operation Absolute Resolve, the raid that seized Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores in Venezuela. Article eight covers Operation Rough Rider, a 52-day bombing campaign in Yemen that Massie says also lacked authorization and skipped reporting duties.

Massie sits on Judiciary and has spent his career voting against foreign wars. He lost his primary this year to a challenger endorsed by Trump. He is in the last months of a House career. Privilege motions of this kind rarely reach a full vote when the accused official belongs to the president's party and the floor is in that party's hands. Massie is forcing the text into the Record anyway. The articles are now a document other members have to ignore in public.

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 is the spine of the first three counts. It tells a president he may introduce forces into hostilities only if Congress has declared war, has passed a specific statute, or if the United States or its forces have been attacked. It then gives a 60-day clock, with a possible 30-day extension to withdraw. The Iran campaign began in late February. Tuesday was well past day 90. Massie's claim is that Hegseth, as the officer running the department, is the person who kept the machine on after the statute said stop.

Whether a secretary can be impeached for a war the president ordered is a constitutional argument the House is unlikely to finish. Impeachment has historically aimed at presidents and judges. Cabinet officers have been impeached. Convictions are rare. The political use of Tuesday's reading is more immediate. It puts Iran, the school strike, the boat attacks, Kelly's rank, Maduro's seizure and the Yemen campaign into one charging instrument signed by a Republican.

Hegseth has not offered a point-by-point reply to the eight articles. The White House treats the Iran war as a presidential decision. Massie is trying to make it a secretarial crime. Those are different theories of who owns a war. The floor speech does not resolve them. It names them, dates them and leaves them in the Record for whoever still wants a vote.