By Saqib S. Qureshi — SCN News
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is moving to send lawmakers home earlier than planned, delaying an immediate confrontation over Republican Representative Thomas Massie’s effort to force a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the administration’s conduct of the war with Iran.
Massie, a Kentucky Republican and persistent critic of the conflict, introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth on Tuesday and designated his resolution as privileged, a procedural step that ordinarily requires the House to act within two legislative days. Massie accuses the defence secretary of participating in sustained hostilities against Iran without congressional authorization and of other abuses of office.
The impeachment resolution is considered unlikely to secure enough support to remove Hegseth, but its privileged status could force lawmakers to take a politically sensitive recorded vote shortly before they return to their districts ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Republican leaders could seek to table the resolution rather than hold a direct vote on impeachment.
The timing became more significant after the House late Tuesday approved a separate war powers resolution seeking to end U.S. military operations against Iran without congressional authorization. That measure passed 220-204, with seven Republicans joining Democrats, marking the third time the House has voted to restrict the administration’s ability to continue the conflict.
The vote exposed divisions within the Republican conference over a war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28. Supporters of the war have argued that Iran remains a security threat and that the president has commander-in-chief authority to conduct military operations, while critics in both parties argue that prolonged hostilities require congressional authorization under the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution.
Massie’s impeachment articles take that dispute a step further by seeking to hold Hegseth personally responsible. Massie says Hegseth has violated three provisions of the 1973 War Powers Resolution by participating in hostilities lasting more than 90 days without congressional authorization. Those are Massie’s allegations; neither the House nor a court has established that Hegseth committed the violations alleged in the resolution.
The Pentagon rejected the thrust of the impeachment effort. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the department remained unified behind Hegseth and would continue supporting his leadership and U.S. service members.
Massie said he deliberately did not alert Republican leaders before introducing his resolution because he feared they might alter the House schedule to prevent him from forcing the issue. He pointed to an earlier dispute with leadership and said he believed advance notice could have resulted in additional legislative days being cancelled. That was Massie’s interpretation of leadership’s possible response, not an independently established explanation for Johnson’s scheduling decisions.
House records show lawmakers adjourned late Tuesday after approving the Iran war powers resolution and were scheduled to reconvene at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The chamber’s official floor record confirms the 220-204 war powers vote and subsequent adjournment.
Sending lawmakers away matters procedurally because Massie’s privileged resolution must be addressed within legislative days rather than ordinary calendar days. If the House is not conducting legislative business, the clock on the forced impeachment vote effectively stops, allowing Republican leadership to avoid disposing of the measure immediately before lawmakers leave Washington.
The manoeuvring comes as congressional scrutiny of the Iran conflict grows. Tuesday’s war powers vote attracted additional Republican support, including Representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, who had previously opposed similar efforts. Both said sustained military operations required greater congressional involvement.
Johnson has defended the administration’s approach to Iran while acknowledging economic concerns associated with the conflict. Speaking Tuesday, he said he believed the war was entering a new phase as U.S. allies took a greater role in stabilizing the region and acknowledged pressure to bring down gasoline prices.
The political debate is taking place against the constitutional division of war powers between Congress and the presidency. Congress has authority to declare war and fund military operations, while the president serves as commander in chief. The 1973 War Powers Resolution was intended to constrain extended military action without congressional approval, but successive administrations of both parties have disputed aspects of how those limits apply to presidential military operations.
Massie’s resolution also contains allegations unrelated to Iran, including accusations concerning Hegseth’s handling of other military operations and his use of the powers of his office. Hegseth and the administration dispute the broader case against him, and Republican leaders have shown no indication that they intend to support his removal.
Even without a realistic path to conviction and removal, however, forcing the House to take a position could put members on record over Hegseth’s conduct and the administration’s handling of the Iran war immediately before an election in which control of Congress is at stake.
The dispute therefore combines two separate but increasingly connected congressional battles: whether President Donald Trump’s administration has sufficient legal authority to continue military operations against Iran without new congressional authorization, and whether Hegseth should personally face impeachment over his role in carrying out those operations.
Johnson’s decision on the House calendar can postpone the second confrontation, but it does not automatically dispose of Massie’s privileged resolution. Unless the measure is withdrawn or otherwise resolved under House procedure, Republican leaders could still have to confront it when the chamber resumes legislative business.