The articles of impeachment
On Monday, 9 November 2026, Republican Representative Thomas Massie announced from the House floor a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Massie leaves Congress in January and had already broken with President Donald Trump before the midterm elections. The resolution contains eight articles that accuse Hegseth of waging war on Iran without congressional authorization. Other counts cover military action in Yemen and Venezuela, ignoring the law and minimizing civilian casualties, extrajudicial killings, and persecution of free speech. The text also argues that the White House never sought congressional approval for the Iran war, that the War Powers Act has since lapsed without consequence, and that the administration failed to comply with as many as three separate sections of that law.
Vote timing and the numbers in Congress
The House could vote on the articles as early as Wednesday, 11 November, according to several outlets. Republicans still hold the majority because the members elected in the midterms have not yet taken their seats, and a Democratic majority will form once they do. Several Republicans have said they intend to vote for removal, which means the motion could pass the House with Democratic support. Removal is far from certain, however, because the Senate has a firm Republican majority opposed to it and removal would require a two-thirds majority there. Republican Representative French Hill did not rule out voting for impeachment over the weekend, telling CBS he wanted to follow the debate to see whether it justified impeachment. According to the Los Angeles Times, Massie is pushing the measure despite opposition from the House Republican leadership.
- Massie introduces eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth from the House floor
- Hegseth holds a press conference at the Pentagon on the impeachment push
- House vote on the articles expected
Hegseth's response
Hegseth has dismissed the challenge, saying he was not worried when asked whether he had enough Republican backing to defeat the motion. He has called a press conference at the Pentagon for Tuesday, 10 November, at 14:00 CET to address the impeachment push. Handelsblatt and 20minutes describe it as his first press conference in more than 180 days, while stern.de reports it is his first at the Pentagon since May. On Monday he defended the military decisions taken with Trump in Iran and Venezuela, along with the capture of Nicolás Maduro, who was then Venezuela's head of state. He argued that questioning those operations amounts to questioning the soldiers who carried them out and their achievements.
Political backdrop
The Republican defeat in the midterm elections has put the administration under pressure, and many Republicans attribute that loss to the war in Iran, according to 20minutes. Citing an AP VoterPoll reported by the Los Angeles Times, the outlet says more than 100,000 voters were surveyed and roughly six in ten consider the intervention against Iran the wrong decision. Only about a third said the war was crucial to their vote for Congress, compared with about half who named the cost of living or government corruption. Hegseth's standing has weakened since the election, according to Handelsblatt, which reports that he faces growing pressure over the Iran war.