Republican congressman Thomas Massie has filed this Monday a new motion of censure in the House of Representatives against the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, following the war against Iran launched without the prior approval of Congress.
"Removal of Peter Brian Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, for High Crimes and misdemeanors. (...) Peter Brian Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, also mentioned as Secretary of War by this Administration, is subjected to impeachment proceedings," Massie has proclaimed in the formal text filed.
Massie has brought a total of eight impeachment charges against Hegseth, including illegal war or military operations in Iran, Yemen and Venezuela, "ignoring the laws and minimizing civilian casualties," carrying out extrajudicial executions and violating freedom of expression.
The House plans to put the impeachment articles to a vote next Wednesday, in a scenario in which Republicans still hold the majority, pending the swearing-in of the congressmen elected last Tuesday, which will give way to a Democratic majority.
The removal resolution emphasizes that the U.S. president, Donald Trump, never requested authorization from Congress to declare war on Iran and that the subsequent War Powers Act expired without consequences. The brief argues that the White House has violated up to three different sections of that regulation.
"Secretary Hegseth has knowingly carried out illegal orders to initiate a war against a foreign nation despite the absence of authorization from Congress (...) replacing the mandatory constitutional judgment of Congress with an executive action," the document states.
According to the indictment, Hegseth "has shown that he continues to be a threat to civilians, to the lawful conduct of the military operations of the United States, to the integrity and credibility of the United States Armed Forces, and to the Constitution if he is allowed to continue in office".
In statements to the media afterward, Massie has recalled attacks such as the one carried out against the Minab school, where at least 168 people died. "There is no fog of war on day one. You’ve had months to identify and choose the targets and you chose the building of a school, during a school day, with students inside and then you went back and attacked and then you attacked again," he has denounced.
He has also recalled how, in the opening stages of the conflict, they “twisted English to try not to call it war.” “Lately the president calls it war every day. He’s tired of semantics,” he added. “The lawyers from the White House come with this twisted language so that Hegseth is not removed, but the president goes out and uses all the terms the lawyers told him not to use,” Massie criticized.
Rubio steps in defense of Hegseth
RUBIO DENOUNCES “UNFAIR” CRITICISM OF HEGSETH
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already reacted to the new parliamentary offensive against Hegseth and stressed that he considers it “unfair.”
“I think it is unfair. I have worked with him since the first day on these issues. I’ve seen the work he does, the professionalism he brings,” he said. In Rubio’s view, Hegseth “has done a great job.” “I see the part that the media and congressmen don’t see,” he added.
Several Republican representatives have advanced that they are willing to support the removal of Hegseth, so that, if the initiative reaches the full chamber effectively, it could move forward with additional support from the Democratic minority. However, a final expulsion appears far off, since even if the House approves impeachment, the Senate maintains a solid Republican majority opposed to his departure.
Massie had previously pushed a proposal for a trial by impeachment or “impeachment” against Hegseth, whom he holds responsible for conducting an “illegal” war against Iran without first “a declaration of war, legal authorization, an attack against the United States, or an imminent threat,” although that initiative was filed before the decisive Republican defeat in the midterm elections of last Tuesday.