Pete Hegseth stares down likely impeachment vote. And he's not the only one - USA Today
WASHINGTON – Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth faces impeachment accusations when Congress returns after the midterm elections and others, including President Donald Trump, could be investigated for alleged misconduct as Democrats return to power.
Besides Trump and Hegseth, lawmakers have already filed impeachment resolutions against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon. None of the resolutions gained traction while Republicans led the House, but they signal what Democrats could investigate when they take control of the House and Senate in January.
The House impeached Trump twice while led by Democrats during his first term, over his dealings with Ukraine and over the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. The Senate acquitted him both times for lack of a 2/3 majority to convict. But Democrats have filed at least four more impeachment resolutions against him for potential investigation.
Any House member can introduce a resolution proposing to impeach the president, vice president, other executive officials or judges with accusations of "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors." The process has led to the removal of eight federal judges but not anyone from the executive branch.
Three presidents − including Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868 − and War Secretary William Belknap in 1876 have been impeached but not convicted.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has predicted another impeachment push against Trump with Democrats holding the gavel.
Trump has said he expects to be impeached again with Democrats in control of House. He invited another showdown in June 2025 with the taunt: "go ahead and try Impeaching me, again, MAKE MY DAY!"
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, launched his eight impeachment accusations against Hegseth on Sept. 15. The difference from other resolutions filed against Trump and his Cabinet secretaries months ago is that Massie plans to force a House vote on the measure as early as next week, when lawmakers return from the midterm elections.
The Republican majority could kill it by voting to table it. But Massie accused Hegseth of conducting the war against Iran without congressional authorization, seizing Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro without constitutional authority and killing suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean without judicial authorization.
"Secretary Hegseth's constitutional violations extend beyond the illegal war in Iran,” said Massie, who lost his Republican primary and has only the lame duck session of Congress to pursue the impeachment resolution. “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.”
"I think it's terrible. All they do is they talk about impeaching everybody," Trump told reporters Oct. 28. "He's doing a great job. He's a great warrior. I think he's the best at his job in many many years and a lot of people agree with that."
Congress could potentially move quickly if there is support for Massie's resolution. The House impeached Trump a week after the Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021, and a week before he left office. The Senate acquitted him at trial in mid-February 2021. Trump would have been barred from federal office if convicted.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in response to Massie's resolution that Hegseth is a "transformative leader" who has returned standards to the military and made the country's arsenal stronger than ever.
"The entire Department is unified behind the Secretary’s vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first," she said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Wilson had called an earlier Democratic impeachment resolution "another charade in an attempt to distract the American people from the major successes we have had here at the Department of War."
Trump, who endorsed Massie’s Republican primary opponent, has called him a “loser,” a "lightweight" and "a major sleazebag" for opposing the Iran war and voting against other administration priorities.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, who led the second impeachment against Trump, argued that Trump has "undoubtedly" committed impeachable offenses. He cited the unauthorized war against Iran, spending money Congress hasn't authorized and bulldozing the East Wing of the White House.
"They have been plundering money from our government in the most massively corrupt presidential administration in American history," Raskin told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Raskin called impeachment "a critical tool in the toolbox" but that Congress could respond to Trump legislatively, too.
"Impeachment is not a taboo with us, it's not a fetish with us, we understand it is not a panacea," Raskin said. "We will not hesitate to use it if we need to use it."
Democrats have filed at least four impeachment resolutions against Trump during his second term. All four lawmakers have lost their seats, so the resolutions signal subjects for investigation next year.
Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan, who lost his Democratic primary after four years in office, filed impeachment accusations against Trump in April 2025. His accusations included alleged obstruction of justice from Trump firing Justice Department staffers who investigated Jan. 6 and for dropping charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Rep. John Larson of Connecticut, who lost his Democratic primary after 28 years in office, filed impeachment accusations against Trump in April for alleged belligerence without congressional authorization against Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Nigeria and Gaza, and for threatening military force against Panama, Colombia, Cuba and Greenland. Larson also accused Trump of abuse of power in the immigration crackdown and of twisting law enforcement to investigate perceived political rivals.
Rep. Al Green of Texas, who lost his Democratic primary after 22 years in office after Republicans redrew congressional maps in his state, has filed several impeachment resolutions against Trump, the latest in August over the seizure of Maduro.
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, filed 26 impeachment accusations against Trump on Sept. 24. Beyond the military allegations, Cohen accused Trump of abuse of power for his immigration crackdown, for his investigation of perceived rivals such as former FBI Director James Comey and for profiting from his office.
“Trump is clearly the most impeachable President our country has ever endured," said Cohen, another longtime Trump antagonist who retired from his 20-year seat after GOP redistricting. "His continued presence in office is a danger to our democracy."
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, filed impeachment allegations against Education Secretary Linda McMahon in June. The accusations covered significant staff reductions at the department and moving 140 programs and offices to other federal departments.
“I introduced an impeachment resolution because Secretary McMahon has made it her mission to close down the Department of Education, something she does not have the right to do,” Bonamici said on the House floor.
Trump has said he appointed McMahon to dismantle the department. McMahon responded to the impeachment allegations by arguing that Democrats were fine with historically low test scores, classrooms shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic and allowing transgender athletes in female locker rooms.
“It speaks volumes that House Democrats think an impeachable offense is working to improve student outcomes and reduce the federal bureaucracy,” McMahon said on social media in June. “To the Democrats in Congress: do better.”
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Michigan, filed impeachment accusations against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in December. Stevens accused Kennedy of freezing or canceling billions of dollars in research, firing health advisers and spreading conspiracy theories.
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has imperiled the health and safety of the American people, eroded public confidence in the nation’s public health institutions and stalled decades of scientific and medical progress," Stevens wrote in the resolution.
Andrew Nixon, the top department spokesperson, accused Stevens, who lost a Democratic primary for Senate this year and later endorsed the Republican opponent in the race, of playing political games.
"Secretary Kennedy remains focused on improving Americans’ health and lowering costs, not on partisan theatrics designed to elevate standing in a failing, third-rate Senate bid," Nixon said in a statement to USA TODAY.
