Massie: Trump should fire Hegseth before he is impeached

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) suggested that President Trump should remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from his position before the House votes to impeach him.

The Kentucky Republican, who often finds himself in the crosshairs of Trump for frequently breaking with the party, was responding to a report claiming that the president was considering firing the Pentagon chief after the midterm election and blamed him for the unpopular Iran war.

The Hill has not verified this report.

“Trump should fire Hegseth to avoid Hegseth’s impeachment. It’s the honorable thing to do,” Massie said in response to the post on the social platform X.

House GOP leaders pushed the vote that was originally scheduled to take place in September to the lame-duck season, avoiding a controversial vote before the midterm elections took place.

Massie, along with Democrats, accused Republicans of stalling a vote that could potentially hurt the GOP’s chances in tough races in November. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) denied altering the schedule to avoid controversy in the elections, calling the accusations “ridiculous.”

“The House recessed early to avoid the vote, so I will reintroduce Hegseth articles of impeachment when we return for the lame duck session, regardless of the outcome of the midterm election,” Massie said.

Massie first unveiled his efforts to impeach Hegseth in September, accusing him of launching an illegal war in Iran without approval from Congress and said he had “abused the powers of the Department of Defense.” 

He introduced articles of impeachment on the House floor, accusing Hegseth of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Massie had previously introduced a war powers resolution to limit Trump’s military actions in Iran amid rising death toll numbers of U.S. soldiers as fighting between the U.S. and Iran continued.

The outgoing congressman lost in Kentucky’s GOP primary this year to Trump-backed opponent Ed Gallrein.