Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed a resolution Monday to impeach Pete Hegseth, a move that will force House Republican leadership to vote on whether to oust President Donald Trump’s embattled defense secretary after his party’s resounding losses in the midterm elections.

The Kentucky Republican read the eight impeachment charges he filed against Hegseth from the House floor on Monday afternoon. Massie accused Hegseth of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors” related to the Iran war and the Pentagon’s lethal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean.

House GOP leadership must act on Massie’s resolution within two legislative days, meaning a vote is expected by the end of the week. Leadership can either put the resolution on the floor for a vote, set a vote to table the measure or set a vote to refer the measure back to committee. All three options would require majority votes for success.

Massie first filed a resolution to impeach Hegseth in September, but House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled planned votes and adjourned the House early, blocking a vote from taking place until after the election.

The bid to oust Hegseth was expected to take priority when lawmakers returned to the lame-duck Congress following Democrats’ sweeping success in the midterms, which was driven in part by widespread voter dissatisfaction over the Iran war and the squeeze it has placed on their pocketbooks.

“My hope is that this will make it to the Senate,” Massie told reporters of the impeachment articles Monday. “I don’t know if we have enough votes… I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do.”

Johnson, who is stepping down from Republican leadership after his party lost control of both the House and Senate last week, condemned Massie’s resolution Monday as a “cheap trick” for political gain.

“Impeaching a Cabinet secretary right now, especially the Department of War in the middle of hostilities abroad, is, would be, a terrible, terrible look, a terrible thing for our allies and our enemies to see that,” Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill. “And we don’t impeach Cabinet secretaries for political gain or for cheap tricks.”

The Hegseth impeachment efforts received a powerful endorsement on Sunday from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y, who is poised to make history as the first Black speaker of the House when the new Democratic-controlled Congress convenes in January.

“I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution,” Jeffries said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” when asked whether the measure had his support.

At a news conference Monday, Jeffries said “there is no circumstance that justifies Pete Hegseth continuing to hold this position,” and that he expects “there will be Republican members of Congress who will join in the effort to try to pass the resolution.”

Jeffries’ sponsorship could be a signal of how House Democrats will vote on the measure, the timing and strategy of which has been a point of contention among the caucus. It’s also a sign of the extent to which Democrats are willing to act on their threats to oust Hegseth when they assume control of Congress in January.

After Democrats’ watershed election wins last week, Trump doubled down on his support for Hegseth remaining in his role, telling reporters, “I think he’s doing a fantastic job.”

During an impromptu news conference Monday afternoon, Trump said he would stand by Hegseth even if the defense secretary is impeached.

“I’ll stand by him, yeah,” Trump told reporters in the White House press briefing room, before praising Hegseth’s leadership of the military. “He’s done a very good job.”

The president also lashed out at Massie, dismissing the Kentucky Republican as a “stone cold loser” and accusing him of routinely opposing the administration’s agenda.

Hegseth and his advisers had expected that Massie would move to impeach the defense secretary this week, according to a source with direct knowledge of their thinking who was granted anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy.

They believe he has a solid defense against Massie’s allegations, according to the source, arguing that “Hegseth carried out the lawful and well informed decision by the president” in every case.

Hegseth does not expect the impeachment effort will move to a trial, given the limited amount of time before Congress adjourns, according to the source familiar, who said Hegseth and his advisers believe Democrats will try to impeach him again in the new Congress.

Two Republicans told MS NOW they think a Hegseth impeachment vote will succeed if it comes to the House floor.

“I think the numbers are there,” one House Republican said, adding that they would be “inclined” to support the effort.

“I think he’s been incompetent. It’s been all about bravado and not about strategy,” they said.

But the GOP lawmaker, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic, said it should not come down to Congress. Instead, Hegseth should leave on his own.

“I think he should resign,” the lawmaker said. “He needs to have the honor and the integrity of knowing that he’s done a bad job in service to the country in this particular position, and he needs to resign and save face.”

Massie is serving his final months in the House after he was unseated in May by Ed Gallrein, a Trump-backed primary challenger who won the seat over Democrat Melissa Strange in Tuesday’s general election.

Massie has been a frequent thorn in the president’s side. He led the congressional push for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and voted against Trump’s marquee tax and spending legislation last year.

Ebony Davis contributed to this report.

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