Massie vows 'week one' vote in lame duck to impeach Hegseth

John M. Donnelly, CQ-Roll Call on Oct 26, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The author of a draft House resolution to impeach the defense secretary said Monday he plans to force a vote on the measure the week of Nov. 9.

The Pete Hegseth impeachment resolution is a “week one” issue for the House lame-duck session, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said in a phone interview.

“I’m not sure if I would do it the night we get back, but it would be soon after we return — if he’s still in the job,” Massie said of Hegseth.

Massie is optimistic that his resolution will be adopted.

“I give it better than a 50% chance of passing,” Massie said. “Will all the Democrats vote for it? I think the answer to that is yes. And then the second question is, do I get a handful of Republicans? And I think they’re probably more inclined in the lame-duck session to vote for it than they were before their campaigns were over.”

Eight, or more, articles

Massie is leaving Congress after this session, having lost his GOP primary to a rival backed by President Donald Trump.

The seven-term Republican congressman plans to give notice of his intent to file his resolution the week of Nov. 9 as a so-called question of the privileges of the House.

Assuming the parliamentarian affirms that the resolution qualifies for such consideration, the speaker would have up to two legislative days to schedule a vote.

The House could vote on the resolution or consider a motion to table it.

In mid-September, a couple of days before Congress left for its pre-election recess, Massie read his draft resolution aloud on the House floor.

It has eight articles of impeachment.

They include allegations that Hegseth violated the 1973 War Powers Resolution in his prosecution of the Iran war and acted illegally in military campaigns in Venezuela, Yemen, the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Massie also charges Hegseth with disregarding protection of civilians in wartime and suppressing the free speech of a U.S. senator.

“Secretary Hegseth’s constitutional violations extend beyond the illegal war in Iran,” Massie said in a statement in September. “He is abusing the power of his office to ignore congressional war powers resolutions, to kidnap foreign leaders, and to intimidate critics of the Trump administration by retaliating against them for exercising free speech.”

On Monday, Massie said he is considering adding to the articles, but hasn’t drafted any additional text.

“It’ll be substantially the same eight articles, most likely,” he said.

Democrats’ antipathy

Democrats are virtually united in their opposition to Hegseth and most if not all would be expected to vote in favor of impeaching him.

Many feel as strongly as Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a member of the Armed Services Committee, who said Sunday on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” broadcast on Sunday that getting rid of Hegseth is his top priority.

“Pete Hegseth remains incompetent and is not doing what’s necessary to protect our servicemembers, which is why he’s my priority No. 1 if we retake the majority, to make sure we oust him from the Pentagon, because our servicemembers actually deserve competent, serious, real leadership that will protect them and do the right thing,” Crow said.

A House impeachment vote would turn largely on Republican defections, but member absences, always a factor in a narrowly divided House, could loom especially large. After the midterm election, some members whose reelection bids fell short may opt not to show up for all the votes.

Whether the Senate would then convict Hegseth is a separate question.

The House has only voted twice to impeach a Cabinet member. In 1876, Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached over allegations of corruption, and his abrupt resignation likely contributed to his acquittal in the Senate.

In 2024, the House voted 214-213 to impeach Alejandro Majorkas, secretary of Homeland Security, for “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust.” The Senate dispensed with the charges without a trial.

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