Donald Trump's party bars impeachment of Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War who defended conflict in Iran

He was one of the greatest supporters of that war. The war that cost Donald Trump his majority in Congress and the mandate of many of the deputies who voted this Tuesday (10) for impeachment.

The person who presented the request was Representative Thomas Massie, from Kentucky, from Donald Trump's party, but already a known critic of the government. In the document, the parliamentarian makes eight formal accusations against Pete Hegseth. It states that the Secretary of War violated the Constitution by attacking Iran without Congressional authorization and then by maintaining military operations beyond the legal period of 60 days. Hegseth blames the extrajudicial executions in the Caribbean and the Pacific against suspected drug traffickers, the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the attacks on Yemen. All this without their authorization: the parliamentarians.

At a press conference before the vote, Hegseth called the move a sham and called the Republican congressman who made the request a loser. Massie did not run for Congress in 2026 because he lost the party primaries to another candidate, supported by Trump. The secretary stated:

Pete Hegseth became one of the main faces of the government's defeat at the polls because of the war in Iran. A war that, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll this Tuesday (10), 71% of Americans want Congress to end. And this was just one of Hegseth's controversial measures in office. He was the one who defended changing the name of his own ministry and position to Secretary of War and no longer Defense; removed high-ranking officers; blocked promotions of women and black military personnel; and publicly rebuked the generals' physical fitness. The latest controversy was proposing the live broadcast of the shooting of a former soldier convicted of an attack on a base in Texas.

The Republican Party's defeat in the congressional elections placed Hegseth in an even more vulnerable position, which led to the vote on the impeachment request this Tuesday (10). But Republicans - who are still the majority in the House - managed to block the process and passed a resolution to send the impeachment request back to a committee. In practice, the resolution bars the vote on impeachment. At least until 2027, when the Democratic opposition will assume the majority of Congress.