Impeach Hegseth: Constitutional Accountability

On November 10, the House voted 211–204 to refer Representative Thomas Massie’s eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee rather than allow a direct vote. Referral must lead to scrutiny, not bury these allegations. The first three articles challenge Hegseth’s conduct of the war in Iran, alleging unauthorized hostilities, disregard of congressional direction, and violations of the War Powers Resolution’s time limits. The Constitution gives Congress authority over war precisely to prevent executive officials from wielding military power without meaningful checks. The Committee should demand the orders, timelines, legal memoranda, and communications behind these decisions. The fourth and fifth articles allege grave failures to protect human life: civilian deaths in Iran, including at a girls’ school, and lethal strikes on vessels suspected of drug trafficking. The maritime allegations include attacks on survivors and failures to rescue people in distress. Suspected criminal activity does not, by itself, make a person a lawful military target. Congress should obtain the targeting intelligence, rules of engagement, casualty assessments, and investigations necessary to determine what happened and who authorized it. The remaining articles concern alleged retaliation against Senator Mark Kelly for speech about unlawful military orders, the operation to seize Venezuela’s president and his wife, and military actions in Yemen. None should be dismissed without examination of the evidence. Congress should also investigate a serious concern outside these eight articles: the Pentagon’s treatment of religious liberty. Hegseth has hosted Christian services at the Pentagon, reduced the number of religious-affiliation categories, and created an Office of Religious Affairs. The department says its services are voluntary and its reforms protect religious expression. The House should test those assurances by examining whether service members of minority faiths—or no faith—experience unequal treatment or pressure from the chain of command. Freedom of religion includes freedom from government-imposed religion. Referral must not substitute for action. I urge the Judiciary Committee to hold public hearings, obtain relevant documents, hear from military and civilian witnesses, protect whistleblowers, and publish findings. If the evidence supports impeachment, the House should bring the appropriate articles to a recorded vote. If this Congress fails to act, the next House should resume the inquiry. This is not about partisan loyalty or policy disagreement. It is about whether the officials entrusted with military power remain answerable to law—and whether the House is willing to defend its own constitutional responsibilities.