Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed eight articles of impeachment Monday, accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973, citing the lack of congressional oversight on the Iran war which Massie argues was “unlawful from its inception.” Another charge accuses Hegseth of “ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties.” The charges also allege the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader,” in reference to the U.S.’ capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.
While Hegseth has the support of President Donald Trump, who vowed to “stand by” him even if an impeachment vote is successful, the embattled Defense Secretary is facing mounting scrutiny elsewhere. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is among those to throw his weight behind the impeachment effort, which was initially filed in September, but was never voted on as the House went into recess.
“If you wanted to draw an analogy to criminal law: an impeachment vote by the House of Representatives is like an indictment. It doesn't mean the person has been found guilty, but it means that the House thinks there's enough evidence of high crime or misdemeanor that there should be a trial,” says Thomas Berry, director of the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
The House has initiated impeachment proceedings over 60 times, but only 22 cases, involving 21 people, have resulted in formal impeachment by the House. Trump was impeached twice by the House during his first term. He was accused of abusing the power of his office for domestic political advantage and obstructing Congress’ abilities to hold him accountable in the first impeachment, while the second impeachment saw him accused of incitement of insurrection, in relation to the events of Jan. 6, 2021. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020 and February 2021.
Secretary of War William W. Belknap is seen here —Heritage Art/Heritage Images—Getty Images
William Belknap served under Republican President Ulysses S. Grant from 1869 to 1876 as Secretary of War, a predecessor to the modern-day Secretary of Defense. Although the Trump Administration has since revived the term, rebranding the “Department of Defense” to the “Department of War” last year.
“The Grant presidency was particularly corrupt. It was a situation where Grant himself was an honest man, a beloved war hero, turned two-term President,” says Thomas Balcerski, a professor of history at Eastern Connecticut State University. “Yet he had a flaw in his character in that he was too trusting of the men around him, many of whom were military figures from the Civil War.”
The investigations turned to Belknap’s appointment of post-traders, civilian merchants licensed by the government to conduct business at military forts. These positions could be highly profitable, making the appointments a valuable source of patronage controlled by the secretary.
While testifying in front of the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department, a wheeler-dealer named Caleb Marsh, who alongside Belknap handpicked associates to operate the lucrative military trading post at Fort Sill in modern day Oklahoma, alleged that Belknap had received payments in exchange for the appointments. Estimates placed the amount between $20,000 and $40,000, equivalent to approximately $630,000 to $1.26 million today.
His resignation, however, did not stop the impeachment proceedings from moving to the Senate, raising the constitutional question of whether an official could still face a trial after leaving office.
Although the Senate could have voted to disqualify Belknap from holding future federal office, it ultimately did not reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict him, and he was acquitted.
Alejandro Mayorkas speaks at the White House on Oct. 1, 2024. —Kent Nishimura—Getty ImagesThe impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024—and what came next
The House of Representatives narrowly voted to impeach Mayorkas in February 2024. Republicans accused Mayorkas of failing to properly enforce the nation’s immigration laws.
“That was pushing the boundaries of what is an impeachable offense,” argues Berry. “There has been much debate since the Constitution was ratified about what is a legitimately impeachable offense versus what is simply a disagreement in policy.”
Ultimately, the Democrat-majority Senate dismissed Mayorkas’ articles of impeachment as unconstitutional in a single afternoon, two months after they were filed. Senate Democrats argued that allowing Cabinet officials to be impeached over disagreements with an Administration’s policies could set a dangerous precedent.
Some Republicans raised doubts over the proceedings, also. Rep. Tom McClintock of California said that although he believed Mayorkas was “guilty of maladministration” of immigration laws, he did not view the matter as grounds for impeachment.
Mayorkas, who called the impeachment proceedings “baseless,” continued to lead the DHS until the transition to the second Trump Administration in January 2025.
How the effort to impeach Hegseth compares
“The impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas is much closer in form and content to the possible impeachment of Pete Hegseth than the impeachment of Belknap,” says Balcerski. “The Mayorkas impeachment set a precedent, where impeachment became one of the tools of oversight of the Congress.”
The first is that, unlike Mayorkas, the push to impeach Hegseth is being led by Massie, a member of the same party as the Administration.
“Several articles Massie brought forward are about the War Powers Act, which essentially places limits on the extent to which the executive branch can wage war, and how long it can without congressional authorization,” he says.
Massie argued on Tuesday that Hegseth should be impeached on grounds that the military operation in Iran has continued without congressional authorization past the 60-day deadline.
When questioned by the Senate Armed Services Committee on the eve of the 60-day mark of the war in April, Hegseth argued that as a temporary cease-fire had been reached, then any such clock for congressional approval would be paused—a position Senators contested.
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