US Congressman Thomas Massie has accused the War Secretary of conducting illegal military operations without lawmakers\u2019 approval<\/p>\n
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has blocked an attempt to impeach US War Secretary Pete Hegseth over his handling of the conflict with Iran and other military operations, effectively shelving the initiative until the next Congress takes office.
\nOutgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie reintroduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth earlier this week, following the Democrats\u2019 victory in the November 3 midterm elections, which gave them control of both chambers of Congress beginning in January.
\nThe House voted 211-204 on Tuesday to refer the resolution to the Judiciary Committee, where Republicans hold a majority. The party will retain control of both chambers until the end of the year, making it highly unlikely that the impeachment measure will advance before the current congressional term expires.<\/p>\n
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Massie has accused Hegseth of violating the 1973 War Powers Resolution by waging war against Iran without congressional authorization and failing to minimize civilian casualties during US strikes. The conflict, triggered by a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, has been \u201cunlawful from its inception,\u201d the congressman said.
\nHe also denounced the 2025 US strikes on Yemen and the January abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as illegal, while accusing Hegseth of ordering extrajudicial killings of suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific. The Pentagon chief\u2019s military operations have drawn fierce criticism from Democrats and some Republicans.
\nHegseth dismissed the impeachment effort as a \u201cfarce\u201d and a \u201cpolitical spectacle\u201d during a Pentagon press conference on Tuesday. He rejected the accusations and defended the military operations, saying: \u201cI stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Massie first introduced the impeachment articles in September, but the initiative stalled after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled the chamber\u2019s remaining votes ahead of the midterms. The congressman warned on Monday that his renewed impeachment effort was a \u201cmuch gentler version\u201d of what could follow when Democrats take control of Congress.
\nThe Democrats\u2019 victory in the November 3 midterms has been widely seen as a rebuke of US President Donald Trump\u2019s policies, particularly the unpopular Iran war, which has sent energy prices soaring by disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil and LNG route. The party will gain the power to investigate Hegseth when it takes control of Congress in January.
\nTrump has fiercely defended Hegseth, branding Massie a \u201ctotal loser\u201d and praising the Pentagon chief as \u201cperhaps the most popular and successful military official in the country.\u201d On Monday, he reaffirmed his support, telling reporters: \u201cI\u2019ll stand by him.\u201d Following Hegseth\u2019s press conference on Tuesday, Trump gave his performance an \u201cA PLUS, PLUS, PLUS.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US Congressman Thomas Massie has accused the War Secretary of conducting illegal military operations without lawmakers\u2019 approval The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has blocked an attempt to impeach US…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t