#war-powers
4 entries with this tag
Days After Trump's Party Lost Both Chambers in the Midterms, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie Filed Eight Articles of Impeachment Against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — a 34-Page Resolution Centered on Waging War Against Iran Without Congressional Authorization — and Read All Eight Aloud on the House Floor for About an Hour and Twenty Minutes, Restarting the Clock That Forces a Vote With the GOP Majority Down to 218-214; Trump Vowed to "Stand By" Hegseth Even if He's Impeached
On November 9, 2026 — less than a week after Trump's Republicans lost both the House and Senate in the midterms — Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a 34-page resolution accusing him of high crimes and misdemeanors. The central charge is the one this archive has documented from its origins: that Hegseth helped wage war against Iran without congressional authorization and abused the powers of his office. Massie read all eight articles aloud on the House floor, speaking for roughly an hour and twenty minutes, and the filing — a re-introduction of articles he first offered in September — restarted a two-day clock that forces Republican leaders to schedule a vote. The timing and the math make it serious: with the GOP majority now down to a razor-thin 218-214, only a handful of Republican defections would be enough to impeach a sitting Defense Secretary. Hegseth dismissed the effort as "sham articles of impeachment" and defended his Pentagon record in a video; Trump said he would "stand by" Hegseth even if the House impeached him. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries backed the push, calling Hegseth "the architect of the reckless and costly failed war of choice in Iran." That the drive is led by a Republican — and newly viable because Trump's party just lost its cushion at the ballot box — makes it a convergence of two threads this archive has long tracked: the unauthorized war, and the collapse of the political protection that shielded those who ran it.
When a Republican Congressman Forced a Vote to Impeach Defense Secretary Hegseth for Unlawfully Waging War on Iran, the Republican Speaker Canceled Congress's Last Scheduled Day and Sent the Whole House Home Early for a Seven-Week Recess — Punting the Vote Past the Midterms to Spare Vulnerable Members From Having to Say, on the Record, Where They Stand on Hegseth
On September 15, 2026, Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of "high crimes and misdemeanors" for unlawfully waging war against Iran without congressional authorization. Massie filed the resolution as "privileged," a procedural move that would normally force the House to act on it within two legislative days. Speaker Mike Johnson's response was to make sure the House was not there to act: he canceled the chamber's last scheduled votes and sent members home a day early for a seven-week pre-midterm recess, taking a final vote Wednesday night on a Russia sanctions bill and then adjourning. The effect is that the Hegseth impeachment vote will not happen until at least November — after the election. Republican leaders insisted the timing had nothing to do with Hegseth, and Johnson called Massie's effort "ridiculous" while defending the secretary. But the reason was reported plainly: leaders wanted to protect vulnerable Republicans — many uneasy with Hegseth's leadership during the unpopular six-month Iran war — from a politically difficult vote. The tell is that impeachment was never likely to pass a Republican House; what leadership could not stomach was making its own members go on the record about Hegseth at all. So rather than hold the vote and defeat it, they canceled Congress and fled town.
For the Second Time, the House Formally Voted to Order Trump to End His War in Iran — 214-208, With Four Republicans Crossing the Aisle — Because Congress Never Authorized the War, Troops Are Dying in It, and He Ignored the Last Resolution Telling Him to Stop
On July 23, 2026, the House of Representatives passed a war powers resolution, 214-208, directing President Trump to "remove the use of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran." It was sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and four Republicans — Thomas Massie (KY), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Warren Davidson (OH), and Tom Barrett (MI) — crossed the aisle to support it. It was the House's fifth vote on a measure to rein in Trump's Iran military actions, and only the second time it has successfully adopted one. The vote came days after four U.S. service members were killed in the Middle East and weeks after the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding Trump paraded as a triumph collapsed — he declared the MOU "over" and, on July 10, formally notified Congress that fighting had resumed. Congress never authorized this war; there is no AUMF for Iran, and under the Constitution the power to take the country to war belongs to the legislature. Jayapal called it "a big victory for the vast majority of the American people who want President Trump to end this illegal war," saying the House was "reasserting our authority over war." The Senate was set to vote the same day on a companion resolution from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). But the resolution is a concurrent measure that does not go to the president for signature and cannot, by itself, force him to withdraw — the same kind Congress passed in June, which Trump simply ignored as he restarted the war. The vote is a genuine bipartisan rebuke and a real constitutional assertion. It is also a portrait of a broken check: the branch the Constitution entrusts with the power of war telling the president to stop, twice, while he wages on.
House Passes Iran War Powers Resolution 215-208 — Four Republicans Defect in Sharpest Rebuke of Trump's War
On the fourth attempt, the House passed a war powers resolution directing Trump to end hostilities with Iran unless Congress declares war. Four Republicans — Massie, Fitzpatrick, Barrett, and Davidson — crossed party lines, and Jared Golden switched from no to yes, giving Democrats unanimity. Two weeks ago, GOP leaders pulled this same vote and sent Congress home because they knew they'd lose. A Fox News poll shows six in ten voters oppose military action. The 60-day War Powers deadline expired on May 1. The administration's position: the War Powers Act is "unconstitutional, 100 percent." Three inspectors general launched a joint review of the war.