Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) Tuesday read articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over U.S. military actions in Iran and more.
In his comments Tuesday, Massie alleged that Hegseth’s actions resulted in the death of civilians and violations of U.S. code. Massie detailed what he called “schemes” by Hegseth that he says goes against code, including actions in Iran.
Hegseth, who spearheaded renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War, has been a controversial choice to lead the department. For example, he’s made headlines for announcing testosterone screenings for military members and when messages between military officials were apparently accidentally sent to a media outlet.
President Donald Trump announced in February that the U.S. had joined Israel to attack Iran. That conflict has dragged on for months despite attempts at making a peace deal. Audacy has reported on an unnamed source who told CNN that Hegseth was one of the biggest supporters of military action in Iran, and suggested that Hegseth believed “blowing s*** up” was the best way to keep his job.
Among Americans the war has been unpopular, especially as blockades at the Strait of Hormuz have contributed to high gas prices. According to Nate Silver’s the Silver Bulletin, polls showed that more than 58% of Americans opposed the war as of Tuesday. Earlier this month NBC News polling found that support for the war was weakening even among the GOP.
“The impeachment effort is a long shot in the GOP-controlled Congress, but Massie’s resolution is privileged, meaning he can force a full House vote and put Republicans on the record over Hegseth’s handling of the Iran war,” Axios noted.
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