Pete Hegseth Popularity Hits Record Low as Massie Pushes Impeachment - Newsweek

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s favorability rating fell to a record low -24 points in a new Marquette Law School survey published on Wednesday, as he faces a new impeachment effort by Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

Hegseth’s popularity has slipped as American frustration toward the Iran war has continued over the past several months. The military operation was launched in February and faced bipartisan rebuke, with critics arguing it broke President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to not launch new wars.

The conflict has been unpopular, and its impact has been felt domestically in surging oil prices that have added economic pressure for millions of Americans already grappling with high inflation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only 25 percent of Americans viewed Hegseth favorably in the new Marquette poll, while 49 percent said they viewed him unfavorably. That’s the highest point his unfavorability has been since he was announced as Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon.

His net favorability rating fell to -24 points from -22 points in July and -19 points in May, according to Marquette. The previous low point for Hegseth’s favorability was in April, when his favorability rating stood at -21 points just a month after the attack was launched on Iran.

Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they believe the Iran war has not been worth the cost, while 87 percent said that the U.S. has not achieved its goals in the conflict, the poll found.

Meanwhile, only 26 percent approved of President Trump’s handling of the Iran war, while 73 percent disapproved.

It surveyed 1,023 adults nationwide from September 2 to September 9, 2026, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

Massie, who is known for having an independent, libertarian streak, announced articles of impeachment against Hegseth on Tuesday over the Iran war. He said the secretary is breaking the law by “engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization.”

“Secretary Hegseth's constitutional violations extend beyond the illegal war in Iran. He is abusing the power of his office to ignore congressional war powers resolutions, to kidnap foreign leaders, and to intimidate critics of the Trump administration by retaliating against them for exercising free speech,” Massie wrote in a statement.

In total, Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth accusing him of waging war in contravention of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties, engaging in extrajudicial killings, suppressing free speech, the kidnapping of a sovereign leader and waging an unlawful war in Yemen.

Massie’s efforts appear likely to stall, at least until after the midterms, after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the House would recess until after the November elections.

The announcement means Congress will not be voting on the impeachment articles at any point before the midterms.

Massie slammed the announcement in a post on X Wednesday afternoon.

“And there it is. Just as I predicted. They’re canceling Congress tomorrow to avoid the vote on IMPEACHING @SecWar. It will also make it harder for us to reach 218 signatures on the Epstein Discharge Petition before the election. We were at 190+ signatures last night,” he wrote.

Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, also pointed to the Hegseth impeachment articles as the reason for Johnson’s decision in a post on X.

“Republicans just CANCELLED votes for tomorrow, the last legislative day before the midterms. Why? Because they’re afraid we’ll impeach Pete Hegseth. What a bunch of cowards,” she wrote.

Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Newsweek on Tuesday that Hegseth has “been a transformative leader for the Department of War.”

“Standards and merit are back, our arsenal is stronger than ever before, and morale and recruitment across every service are at all-time highs,” Wilson said. “Secretary Hegseth has slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation, and delivered for our warfighters every step of the way. By every measurable metric, the Department of War is better under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership than before.”

Massie has published the full text of his impeachment articles.

Facing growing frustration with the Iran war, the House of Representatives voted to advance a War Powers Resolution opposing Trump’s military action in Iran. Seven Republicans joined Democrats to advance the bill. It now heads to the Senate, where a House-passed resolution has stalled since July.

The resolution comes just weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, when affordability issues stemming from the war could become costly for Republicans. Democrats have made opposition to the war a cornerstone of their pitch to retake control of the House and Senate and are increasingly optimistic about their chances in November.

The war has left Republicans in an awkward position of having to either alienate the White House by opposing the conflict, or assume a political vulnerability by standing with Trump on the unpopular war.

The Marquette poll is not the only recent survey finding that the Iran war is unpopular.

In the latest survey from The New York Times and Siena University, for instance, 66 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the war, compared to only 31 percent who support it. The poll surveyed 1,503 voters from September 8 to 13, 2026.

Rising fuel prices stemming from the war have become a new economic burden for Americans. Gas prices averaged $4.3672 on Wednesday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). That’s up from $4.3289 on Tuesday, $4.2245 a week earlier, $4.0656 a month earlier and $3.1862 a year earlier.

Diesel prices have also increased, which could become a major concern for farmers ahead of the midterms.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Geoffrey Rowland.