On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) stood on the House floor and read eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, then offered the 34-page resolution as privileged. That procedure forces the House to act within two legislative days, which put the vote on Thursday, September 17, the last scheduled session day before a recess of about a month and a half. Leaders can move to table the resolution rather than vote on it directly. As of the morning of September 16, no vote had been held and no other member was listed as a cosponsor.
“By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable,” Massie said in a statement. He said Hegseth “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.”
The first three articles charge violations of the War Powers Resolution: sending forces into hostilities with Iran on February 28 without a declaration of war or statutory authorization; continuing those hostilities after the House (June 3) and Senate (June 23) both agreed to a concurrent resolution directing their removal; and running past the law's time limits, since the articles say no certification for a 30-day extension was submitted by May 1. The fourth charges Hegseth with dismantling the Pentagon's civilian-harm safeguards and ties that to the February 28 Tomahawk strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, where the resolution says “at least 156 civilians were killed.” Reported tolls for that strike vary, and a March preliminary assessment found the U.S. likely responsible but did not intentionally target the school (see Trump Denies Bombing an Iranian Elementary School Where More Than 150 People Were Killed, Calling Reports 'Fake News' Despite Satellite Evidence).
The remaining articles cover the strikes on alleged drug boats, which the resolution says “killed at least 221 individuals” (see U.S. Commanders Watched Two Survivors of the First Boat Strike Cling to the Wreckage for More Than 40 Minutes, Then Killed Them); retaliation against Sen. Mark Kelly over his video on unlawful orders (see Hegseth Censures Senator Mark Kelly and Moves to Cut His Retirement Pay for Reminding Troops They Can Refuse Illegal Orders); the January 3 operation that captured Nicolás Maduro, which it says “killed at least 83 people, including several civilians”; and the 2025 Yemen campaign, which it says led to “the deaths of an estimated 224 civilians.” These figures are the resolution's own and differ from some press tallies.
Massie said he told no one in advance. “I didn't give anybody heads-up,” he told reporters. “When they found out I was doing the Epstein discharge petition, they canceled two weeks of Congress, and I think if they found out I was going to do this, they might have canceled even more days.” He said the effort “wasn't predicated on whether it could succeed or not; there needs to be a marker in history.” CNN, citing multiple sources, reported that Republican leaders were “furious” he moved without informing them, and described it as the first time a member of Congress has tried to impeach a Cabinet member of the same party. Massie lost his May primary to a Trump-backed challenger for whom Hegseth campaigned (see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Headlined a Republican Primary Rally Against Rep. Thomas Massie, Breaking the Pentagon's Tradition of Political Neutrality).
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said, “Secretary Hegseth has been a transformative leader for the Department of War,” adding, “Standards and merit are back, our arsenal is stronger than ever before, and morale and recruitment across every service are at all-time highs.” The New York Post noted the statement did not address the war's legality. Attorney General Todd Blanche, asked about the filing at a White House briefing, said, “Secretary Hegseth is doing a phenomenal job, and the secretary of war doesn't just go off and do things. He follows the law.” Told the conflict was a war, he replied, “I disagree with that characterization, as does most of Congress.”
Democrats filed their own articles against Hegseth in April (see House Democrats File Five Articles of Impeachment Against Hegseth for War Crimes, Signalgate, and Obstruction of Congress). Massie's filing came hours before the House tabled an unrelated Democratic resolution to impeach Trump, and the same night the House passed its third resolution directing an end to the Iran war (see The House Votes a Third Time to End the Iran War, 220-204, as Seven Republicans Now Break With Trump).
Update (September 17, 2026): the vote did not happen. On the morning of September 16, House Republican leaders cancelled the next day's votes and began the pre-election recess a day early. “Members are further advised that upon completion of today's legislative business, votes are no longer expected in the House tomorrow, September 17th,” the majority whip's office announced. The House is scheduled to return November 9. Massie's resolution was not tabled or voted on; it remains pending.
Speaker Mike Johnson called the effort “a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention,” adding, “It will immediately be tabled, of course, but we probably won't do that today. We'll probably do it when we come back, but it's a stunt. Secretary Hegseth has done an extraordinary job at the Department of War.” GOP leaders said the schedule change had nothing to do with Massie; NBC News reported they were eager to spare vulnerable members a difficult vote. Johnson said, “It's time for our members to go home to their districts and make the case to the American people.”
Massie posted, “They're canceling Congress tomorrow to avoid the vote on IMPEACHING @SecWar,” and on the floor asked, “We're calling off Congress? And we're in the majority?” He told CNN, “The fact that they didn't vote on it tells me that they did a whip check,” and that leaders probably found other Republicans who would vote with him, which is his inference. He said the early exit would also make it harder to reach 218 signatures before the election on his discharge petition to force release of more Epstein files, which he said stood at “190+ signatures.” No comment from Trump or the White House on the delay was reported.
Update (September 19, 2026): a Republican senator who voted to confirm Hegseth said publicly that he should be removed. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters on September 17, “He needs to go, whether it's impeachment or the most expedient route, just the president to replace him, would be great.”
He was deliberately agnostic about the method, and did not urge House Republicans to vote for these articles. Asked whether they should, he said, “I'll let the House do what the House is going to do. I think I'm pretty well staked out on my assessment of Mr. Hegseth.” He framed it as a management question rather than a political one: “This is not personal. I mean, people need to realize I worked as a management consultant. I went into companies and identified areas where they needed to improve. We've got a management problem here.”
Tillis is not seeking reelection in November, which is the standard caveat on a Republican break of this kind and belongs in the record alongside the quote.
Update (October 27, 2026): On October 15 Massie posted on X, “Trump should fire Hegseth to avoid Hegseth's impeachment. It's the honorable thing to do,” and said that because the House had recessed early, he would reintroduce the articles in the lame-duck session “regardless of the outcome of the midterm election.” On October 26 he posted an exchange with a reporter that made it conditional: “Reporter: Will you reintroduce articles of impeachment against SecDef Hegseth when Congress returns to DC?” “Me: If he's still SecDef.” The same day House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would run Hegseth “out of town” if they win the House, The Hill reported.