House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday he would support impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Jeffries told ABC’s This Week he expected strong support from Democrats, while saying the caucus would discuss the issue when it reconvened. His endorsement did not amount to a vote or a commitment from every Democrat (Office of Hakeem Jeffries, 2026).
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, told ABC News he intended to bring back a privileged impeachment resolution as early as Monday. That is a plan to seek House action, and the timing and outcome remain uncertain. Axios separately reported that some Republicans were weighing the effort, including Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who told the outlet he was undecided (Scanlan, 2026; Santaliz, 2026).
Massie’s September proposal set out eight articles. Among them were allegations that Hegseth violated the War Powers Resolution in the conduct of the war with Iran. The September text documents what Massie alleged; any new filing must be checked against it before assuming the wording is identical (Office of Thomas Massie, 2026).
Hegseth dismissed the effort as a political attack in a video described by ABC News. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Axios that the department had acted lawfully. The dispute over the administration’s authority to wage and continue the war remains contested; the proposal itself does not establish a violation.
The Constitution gives the House the power to impeach and the Senate the power to try impeachments. If the House adopts an article, that brings a formal charge. Conviction in the Senate requires the agreement of two-thirds of senators present; an impeachment vote alone would not remove Hegseth (U.S. Const. art. I, §§ 2–3, and art. II, § 4).
Editorial Opinion
Congress should make the dispute about who authorized what. If a resolution reaches the floor, lawmakers should identify the operations they are challenging, the authority the administration invoked and the evidence that the limits of that authority were exceeded. The administration should answer those questions on the record.
Republicans can scrutinize a Republican administration without endorsing every allegation in Massie’s proposal. Democrats can demand answers without assuming they already have the votes or the evidence for removal. A recorded vote would show where members stand; it would still leave Congress responsible for examining how the war was authorized and overseen.
References
Office of Hakeem Jeffries. (2026, November 8). Leader Jeffries on ABC: “We are going to visit accountability on the wrongdoers.” Interview transcript.
Office of Thomas Massie. (2026, September 15). Rep. Massie forces vote to impeach Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth. Press release and proposed articles.
Santaliz, K. (2026, November 8). House poised to impeach Pete Hegseth after GOP midterm defeat. Axios. Original report.
Scanlan, Q. (2026, November 8). ‘I’m a hard yes’: Hakeem Jeffries announces support for Hegseth impeachment. ABC News. Original report.
U.S. Const. art. I, §§ 2–3; art. II, § 4. National Archives transcript.
Have a factual correction or website problem? Contact PartialMedia with the article link, disputed passage and supporting source.
Discussion
Comments load automatically through Disqus. This connects to Disqus and its partners, which may use cookies and process your IP address and browser information. Disqus privacy policy.