Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., moved to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, accusing him of violating the War Powers Resolution by proceeding with military action in Iran without congressional approval.

The 34-page resolution alleges that Hegseth has “abused the powers of the Department of Defense” by unlawfully entering the U.S. military into the war against Iran in late February and keeping armed forces there even after Congress passed the Iran War Powers Resolution, which directed President Donald Trump to remove the troops from Iran.

Among eight counts, it alleges that Hegseth ignored laws “that minimize civilian casualties,” pointing to the strike on the school in Minab, which killed more than 100 children, according to Iranian officials, and for which a preliminary Pentagon report found the United States responsible.

Massie charged that Hegseth “effected the systematic deterioration and removal” of systems mandated by Congress to prevent collateral damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure, as he pledged “maximum lethality, not tepid legality” at the Defense Department.

“We’ve exhausted all the other remedies that I can think of,” Massie, who is often a thorn in the side of the Trump administration, told reporters. “They have done everything possible to violate our ability or to abrogate our authority to declare war and to decide when it starts and it ends. And so, also, I don’t want to let them normalize the things that they’re doing.”

We’ve exhausted all the other remedies that I can think of.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

Massie is attempting to force a vote on the resolution by making it “privileged,” meaning the House now has two legislative days to act. But the House GOP leadership is likely to quash an up-or-down vote by moving to circumvent the resolution from even hitting the floor.

The Kentucky lawmaker — who was defeated in his re-election bid by a Trump-backed candidate in a spring primary — said he decided to move forward with impeaching Hegseth because “he’s done the most impeachable things of any Cabinet official.”

Massie added that he did not move to impeach Attorney General Todd Blanche, for instance, over the department’s handling of the Epstein files because there were still ways to address the issue legislatively.

The resolution also focuses on military actions outside the Iran war, including the boat strikes targeting suspected drug traffickers, which have led to at least 227 deaths, and the capturing of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Since first launching strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Trump has repeatedly alleged that the Iran war is nearing completion, even as it has dragged on with no end in sight. At least 18 U.S. service members have been killed and more than 800 injured since the war began. The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday estimated the war has cost $38 billion thus far, and that higher energy costs from the war drove inflation from 2.3% to 5.3% in the second quarter of 2026.

In a statement provided to MS NOW, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson called Hegseth “a transformative leader” who “has slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation, and delivered for our warfighters every step of the way.”

“By every measurable metric, the Department of War is better under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership than before,” Wilson said. “The entire Department is unified behind the Secretary’s vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first.”

Massie said he did not give leadership — or any of his Republican colleagues — a heads up about introducing the impeachment articles because he was worried they would cancel days in session. Of his confidence that the resolution will pass, he said, “I think I’ll have enough Democrats. The question is, can we get enough Republicans?”

In response to Republican statements that the war will end after the midterm elections, Massie took a swipe at the so-called “Trump Dividends” that the president pledged last week to send to every American.

“If you’re relying on Iran making some deal, and then to say that it’s going to end after the election, I believe that as much as I believe the $5,000 checks,” he said.

Massie lost his re-election bid to his Republican primary challenger, Ed Gallrein, in May after Trump endorsed Gallrein and blasted Massie as “unreliable,” an “obstructionist” and a “fool.”

He has been repeatedly willing to buck the president’s hold on the Republican Party, including by introducing the discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein files.

Hegseth campaigned for Gallrein a day before Massie’s primary.

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