Outgoing Republican congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky has introduced articles of impeachment on defense secretary Pete Hegseth.
Massie, an outgoing Republican congressman from Kentucky and vocal critic of the president, argued from the well of the House of Representatives that Hegseth had committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” and “has executed unlawful orders” in office.
Massie is expected to have some Republican support for a vote on articles of impeachment. Under House rules, the vote would have to occur no later than Wednesday.
Massie first introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth on 15 September, but House speaker Mike Johnson called US Congress into recess before it could be heard.
Republicans retain control of the House until new members are seated in January, but House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York – widely expected to ascend to speaker – has said he is a “hard yes” on impeaching Hegseth. “Hegseth has got to go,” Jeffries told ABC News on Sunday.
…Massie’s impeachment resolution holds that Hegseth has subverted the power of Congress to declare war with unauthorized attacks on Iran and Yemen; systemically violated laws meant to minimize civilian casualties with the killing of more than 100 children at a school in Iran; and engaged in extrajudicial killings when ordering suspected drug boats in the Caribbean to be sunk and their crews left without rescue.
The resolution also argues that Hegseth’s investigation and threatened prosecution of Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat, and others for calling for troops to disobey illegal orders was an unconstitutional violation of the first amendment, and alleges that the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was illegal and unconstitutional.
On his show Last Week Tonight that was aired on Sunday, John Oliver delivered a devastating critique of how awful Hegseth is that I hope will be seen by all the members of congress.
There are some who make the reasonable case that the new Democratic majority should focus on improving the lives of ordinary people and not spend time on impeachments and other forms of retribution of the many terrible things that the Trump administration has done. But I think that Hegseth is so awful and so dangerous that the case for impeaching him has to be a priority.
The two are not mutually exclusive. Let’s hope that Democrats can “walk and chew gum at the same time.”
The job of Congress is partly about passing legislation and funding to make people’s lives better. It is also about oversight. And the massive win is a green light from the population at large -- a mandate, as politicians like to say -- to pursue both with aggression.
Compromising before even hitting a difficulty? No.
Hegseth definitely should go, and it’s politically a good place to start, but it’s worth bearing in mind that several of the articles of impeachment speak to actions which came directly from Trump. Yes, Hegseth should have pushed back on them, and yes, he should be impeached for it, but nobody should be allowed to try and pin the blame for the Iran war on him alone.
There is actually a reason to do it now rather than waiting. From Lawers, Guns, & Money: Hegseth in the Headlights
So, apparently, the impeachment bill takes priority over the continuing resolution required to extend the budget, and has to be dealt with first or the entire government shuts down. And there are a lot of Republicans who were defeated, at least some of whom can rightly blame Trump for that, and who have no political career left to lose by doing one last hurrah to spite Trump. (For example, Texas Senator John Cornyn, who was defeated in the primary by Trump-supported Ken Paxton.)
So the fact that there will be more Democrats in the Senate later may not make much of a difference if enough of the exiting Republicans are fine applying a political shiv, and doing it now ensures that the vote can’t be deferred without serious consequences, which would land on Mike Johnson’s head because he would be basically saying “I’m willing to shut the government down rather than allow a vote on Hegseth’s impeachment,” and saying it right after his party already got a shellacking.
I just heard on NBC Nightly News that the Hegseth impeachment vote failed. We now have to wait for the next Congress in January.
Let’s hope that Republican attempts to deny seating the new congresscritters, which I consider likely, will fail. As Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over till it’s over” …
It turns out that the actual vote, which was successful, was to refer the impeachment to committee. The effect is still to kill the impeachment since it won’t be taken up before the end of the current Congress.
<aside>I just heard on The PBS News Hour that Bernie Sanders has announced that he won’t support Schumer to continue as the Democratic Leader in the Senate. 😎</aside>