How impeachment of a Cabinet secretary like Hegseth works
By Lauren Chadwick and Michael Williams, CNN
(CNN) — A key Republican lawmaker introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week in a move that could make him the third Cabinet official in US history to be impeached.
Here’s what to know about the process the House of Representatives uses to bring impeachment articles against a Cabinet official and how the proceedings could turn out.
How does impeachment work?
The US Constitution gives the House of Representatives “the sole Power of Impeachment” and the Senate the power to “try all Impeachments.”
The proceedings can begin with an investigation by a House committee, the results of which can then be presented to the House to hold a vote on articles of impeachment. A simple majority is required for an impeachment vote to succeed on the House floor.
A trial could then be held in the Senate, where a supermajority, two-thirds of the body, would need to be reached to convict.
But the process doesn’t have to unfold that way.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie on Monday introduced his resolution calling for Hegseth’s impeachment, and GOP leaders now have two legislative days to schedule a vote in the House.
GOP leaders can offer a motion to table — or block — the resolution when it’s time for a vote. But if the House passes the impeachment resolution, the matter would next go to the Senate.
While a two-thirds vote is needed to convict at the conclusion of a Senate trial, it is possible that the GOP-led panel could take an alternative path and preempt a trial altogether.
If an impeachment vote in the House is successful, the Senate would likely attempt to move to dismiss it or refer it to committee for further consideration. Both would need majority votes.
Why are lawmakers pushing to impeach Hegseth?
Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
The resolution accuses the defense secretary of waging war in Iran without congressional approval, ignoring laws about minimizing civilian casualties and directing the Defense Department to carry out extrajudicial killings.
It describes US actions in Iran, Venezuela, Yemen and its strikes on ships in the Western Hemisphere thought to be carrying narcotics. At least 80 vessels have been destroyed and 243 people have been killed in those operations since they began last year, with the Pentagon not providing public evidence for its claims against the people it killed.
In Iran, the articles accuse Hegseth of directing the US armed forces to enter into hostilities absent a declaration of war, other statutory authorization or a national emergency.
The articles state that Hegseth “abused the powers of his high office” by “executing an unlawful order to commence hostilities despite the absence of a declaration of war, specific statutory authorization, or a national emergency created by an attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its Armed Forces.”
They accuse Hegseth of incubating “a war-making culture at the Department of Defense which he boasts as being dismissive of ‘stupid rules of engagement’ with preference for ‘maximum lethality, not tepid legality.’” The deadly US strike that hit an elementary school in Iran was a “foreseeable” consequence of Hegseth’s decision making, the articles say.
In Yemen, the articles accuse Hegseth of conducting an “unlawful” war contributing to the deaths of civilians. In Venezuela, the articles describe the operation that ended in the capture of Nicolás Maduro as “an act of war against a sovereign country executed under the guise of narcotics law enforcement.”
“In all of this, Secretary Hegseth has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Secretary of Defense and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” the articles say.
Which previous Cabinet secretaries have been impeached?
If the impeachment vote in the House is successful, Hegseth would be the third Cabinet secretary to be impeached.
Secretary of War William Belknap faced impeachment in 1876 for taking kickbacks and corruption.
Belknap tried to head off impeachment by resigning in a tearful admission to President Ulysses S. Grant at the White House. The impeachment happened anyway, although the Senate failed to convict Belknap.
The most recent Cabinet member to face impeachment was President Joe Biden’s secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
House Republicans voted in 2024 to impeach Mayorkas by a narrow margin over his handling of immigration at the southern border. The Democratic-controlled Senate then voted to kill both articles of impeachment against him.
Could Hegseth be removed from office?
The process to remove an official requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict on impeachment charges. That has never happened for a Cabinet official.
A GOP aide told CNN last week there is a strong argument for the Senate to refer the matter to committee for an investigation instead of going directly to trial. But the aide noted no decisions will be made until the impeachment happens.
How has Hegseth responded?
Hegseth said Monday he’s not worried about the effort to impeach him, adding he agreed with President Donald Trump that he would again launch the Iran war, if he had a do-over.
He said disagreements in Congress over policy decisions at the Pentagon are “disagreements with success” and that those who take issue with the military operations under his watch are “taking issue with the troops.”
In a defiant video on X last week amid news that he could face possible impeachment, Hegseth said the “other side” was obsessed.
“A disgruntled, defeated congressman along with all his Democrat allies has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly. Just like they tried against President Trump twice,” Hegseth said in a head-on video filmed outside the Defense Department, comparing his situation to Trump’s impeachments.
“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”
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CNN’s Haley Britzky, Manu Raju, Lauren Fox, Ted Barrett and Zachary Wolf contributed to this report.
