WASHINGTON: Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced articles of impeachment against US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, setting off a two-day clock for an expected House vote on Wednesday on charges including waging war against Iran without congressional approval and other abuses of power.
Hegseth, who calls himself the “secretary of war” as part of his effort to rebrand a military he says was too weak and “woke” when he took office last year, could share something in common with an actual secretary of war.
William Belknap, who held that title in 1876, became the first, and to date only, civilian leader of the US military to be impeached by Congress.
Congressional sources say the resolution may have the simple majority needed to pass the Republican-controlled House before Democrats take over on Jan 3. Conviction appears unlikely in the Senate, however, where a two-thirds majority is required and Republicans hold 53 of 100 seats.
House Speaker Mike Johnson opposed the effort, saying impeachment in the middle of hostilities would be a terrible thing for “our allies and our enemies” to see.
Voter anger over the war helped Democrats win control of Congress in last week’s midterm elections, intensifying Republican divisions over a conflict that Vice President J. D. Vance has publicly questioned, but which Hegseth has defended as courageous and historic.
Accused of taking huge kickbacks, Belknap handed President Ulysses Grant his resignation ahead of his scheduled impeachment vote and, according to a Senate history, burst into tears. The House impeached him anyway, but the Senate later acquitted him after falling short of the required two-thirds majority.
Vows to stay and fight
By contrast, Hegseth is promising to stay and fight.
Hegseth has mounted a social media campaign, saying in a defiant video message last week that he would not back down. He also drew a comparison to President Donald Trump, who was impeached twice, saying: “It didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me.” Asked if he had enough Republican support to defeat the impeachment push, Hegseth said: “We’re not worried about that.”
He announced a Tuesday press conference, his first at the Pentagon since May.
Trump has backed Hegseth and condemned the impeachment push in an interview with CBS broadcast on Sunday.
“They want to impeach him. Very unfair. We had two wars, we won both,” Trump said.
Trump referred to both the Iran war, which is at an impasse, and to Venezuela, where the US military deposed that country’s president, Nicols Maduro, in a January commando raid on his compound in the Venezuelan capital.
Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2026
