US War Secretary Faces Impeachment Call Over Iran ‘Crimes’

A Republican congressman has called for the impeachment of US secretary of war Pete Hegseth, accusing him of “high crimes” over the war on Iran. 

Representative Thomas Massie also said Hegseth had started the war without congressional approval, mishandled top secret intelligence and potentially violated the Geneva Convention.

However, Massie’s attempt to impeach Hegseth – and his bipartisan effort to release more files in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation – are now blocked from being voted on after House speaker Mike Johnson decided on Wednesday to close Congress early.

Johnson said Hegseth has done an “extraordinary job at the Department of War”.

Impeachment in US politics is a process whereby lawmakers accuse public officials of misconduct. On its own, it is not enough to be removed from office – president Donald Trump was impeached twice in his first term – but it can lead to removal.

Late last year, Hegseth was rebuked for “endangering military personnel” after he shared military intelligence in a Signal group chat on his personal phone. 

In March, he told a news conference about the Iran conflict: “We will keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies.” Massie noted this phrase could be interpreted as a war crime, as it implies that troops should ignore their opponent’s surrender and kill them instead. 

The congressman said Hegseth’s actions had directly contributed to civilian deaths, including during an attack on a girls’ school in Minab, Iran. 

Hegseth has dismissed reports that US munition reserves are rapidly being diminished by the Iran war. But on Tuesday, the US department of war’s inspector general contradicted this, stating that the conflicts had led to “shortfalls” in munitions and a bottleneck in resupply. The body found that around $3.7bn worth of aircraft and equipment had been lost to both enemy and friendly fire since the conflict began.

Politicians and military figures have described Hegseth as “inept”, with Randy Manner, a retired major general in the US National Guard, calling him “as a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States and the world.” 

Prior to entering office, while working as a host on Fox News, Hegseth suggested that waterboarding, an illegal torture technique, could be useful when interrogating terror suspects. 

Human rights groups including Amnesty International have called for investigations into airstrikes by US and Israeli forces on civilian areas of Tehran, saying the actions could constitute war crimes. 

Israel and the US have killed at least 1,701 civilians, including 307 children, since the start of the war, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, though analysts say the true toll is likely higher. 

In July, prime minister Andy Burnham approved the use of UK military bases for the US to launch strikes against Iranian targets, a policy inherited from Keir Starmer.