Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could become the third Cabinet secretary to be impeached in U.S. history after a Republican lawmaker reintroduced a resolution forcing the House to take up the vote.
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lawmaker → become → vote
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed eight articles of impeachment Monday, accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973, citing the lack of congressional oversight on the Iran war which Massie argues was “unlawful from its inception.”
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Massie → file → inception
Another charge accuses Hegseth of “ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties.”
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that → accuse → casualties
The charges also allege the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader,” in reference to the U.S.’ capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.
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charges → allege → January
Hegseth has dismissed the impeachment effort as a “political spectacle,” referring to the resolutions put forward by Massie as a “farce” that “mock the Constitution.”
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that → dismiss → Constitution
Addressing reporters during a press conference at the Pentagon Tuesday morning, Hegseth said that “Iran, the cartels, Maduro, Yemen, every one was a lawful operation ordered by the Commander in Chief, then ordered by myself, notified to Congress, and executed by American warriors who did their jobs.”
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who → address → jobs
While Hegseth has the support of President Donald Trump, who vowed to “stand by” him even if an impeachment vote is successful, the embattled Defense Secretary is facing mounting scrutiny elsewhere.
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Secretary → have → scrutiny
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is among those to throw his weight behind the impeachment effort, which was initially filed in September, but was never voted on as the House went into recess.
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House → throw → recess
It’s unclear exactly how the current impeachment effort will affect the five-week lame-duck session, as government funding runs out after Dec. 11 and lawmakers still need to make a deal to avert a government shutdown.
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lawmakers → ’ → shutdown
Even if the measure passes the House, it’s unlikely to obtain the two-thirds majority needed to pass the current Senate, where Republicans still hold 53 out of 100 seats.
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Republicans → pass → seats
Democrats will take control of both chambers in January.
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Democrats → take → January
“If the Senate doesn't deal with this before the end of this Senate, they're turning it over to a Democrat Senate, who can then have the trials and deal with it,” Massie told reporters Monday.
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Massie → deal → reporters
“If you wanted to draw an analogy to criminal law: an impeachment vote by the House of Representatives is like an indictment.
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vote → want → indictment
It doesn't mean the person has been found guilty, but it means that the House thinks there's enough evidence of high crime or misdemeanor that there should be a trial,” says Thomas Berry, director of the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
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Berry → mean → Studies
While impeachment itself carries no immediate legal consequences, a conviction in the Senate can also result in disqualification from holding future federal office.
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conviction → carry → office
The House has initiated impeachment proceedings over 60 times, but only 22 cases, involving 21 people, have resulted in formal impeachment by the House.
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cases → initiate → House
Trump was impeached twice by the House during his first term.
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Trump → impeach → term
He was accused of abusing the power of his office for domestic political advantage and obstructing Congress’ abilities to hold him accountable in the first impeachment, while the second impeachment saw him accused of incitement of insurrection, in relation to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
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him → accuse → Jan.
He was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020 and February 2021.
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He → acquit → February
Only two Cabinet secretaries have been impeached by the House in U.S. history—here’s what to know about them, and what happened after the measures were brought forward.
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measures → impeach → them
How William Belknap became the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached
William Belknap served under Republican President Ulysses S. Grant from 1869 to 1876 as Secretary of War, a predecessor to the modern-day Secretary of Defense.
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Belknap → become → Defense
Although the Trump Administration has since revived the term, rebranding the “Department of Defense” to the “Department of War” last year.
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Administration → revive → War
Belknap, a Civil War veteran, came under scrutiny after Democrats regained the House majority in 1875 and began investigating the Grant Administration amid a series of scandals and allegations of financial corruption.
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Democrats → come → corruption
It was a situation where Grant himself was an honest man, a beloved war hero, turned two-term President,” says Thomas Balcerski, a professor of history at Eastern Connecticut State University.
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Balcerski → turn → University
“Yet he had a flaw in his character in that he was too trusting of the men around him, many of whom were military figures from the Civil War.
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many → have → War
In January 1876, the House passed a resolution directing committees with oversight of the executive branch to investigate government spending across all departments.
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House → pass → departments
The investigations turned to Belknap’s appointment of post-traders, civilian merchants licensed by the government to conduct business at military forts.
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investigations → turn → forts
These positions could be highly profitable, making the appointments a valuable source of patronage controlled by the secretary.
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appointments → make → secretary
Belknap was “accused of bribery, corruption, and taking kickbacks in exchange for essentially providing contracts,” says Balcerski.
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Balcerski → accuse → contracts
In the case of Belknap, he gave an exclusive contract, what we would call a ‘no-bid contract’ in our language today, specifically to trading posts in [modern day] Oklahoma.
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we → give → Oklahoma
While testifying in front of the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department, a wheeler-dealer named Caleb Marsh, who alongside Belknap handpicked associates to operate the lucrative military trading post at Fort Sill in modern day Oklahoma, alleged that Belknap had received payments in exchange for the appointments.
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Belknap → testify → appointments
Estimates placed the amount between $20,000 and $40,000, equivalent to approximately $630,000 to $1.26 million today.
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Estimates → place → million
Belknap learned of Marsh’s testimony on March 1, 1876, and resigned the following day, just hours before the House unanimously voted to impeach him.
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House → learn → him
His resignation, however, did not stop the impeachment proceedings from moving to the Senate, raising the constitutional question of whether an official could still face a trial after leaving office.
“The only real dispute was whether the Senate could do anything about it, because Belknap had actually resigned hours before the House impeached him,” says Berry.
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Berry → stop → him
“Much of the trial was not about whether he had been corrupt, but about whether the Senate could convict him, given the fact that he had already resigned.”
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he → convict → fact
The impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024—and what came next
Alejandro Mayorkas served as Secretary of Homeland Security under former President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025.
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Mayorkas → come → 2025
He was impeached by House Republicans in 2024 over the Administration’s handling of the southern border, as federal officials during the Biden Administration had been overwhelmed by a surge in migrant crossings.
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officials → impeach → crossings
The House of Representatives narrowly voted to impeach Mayorkas in February 2024.
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House → vote → February
Republicans accused Mayorkas of failing to properly enforce the nation’s immigration laws.
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Republicans → accuse → laws
Balcerski says that, compared with Belknap, “there wasn't a similar signature scandal” surrounding Mayorkas’ impeachment.
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Balcerski → say → impeachment
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
