Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed eight articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, opening a sprawling challenge to the Trump administration official over military operations abroad and an alleged effort to suppress a lawmaker’s speech.

Massie accused Hegseth of usurping Congress’ authority to wage war, overseeing extrajudicial killings and acting against a member of Congress over protected speech. The articles were introduced in the House of Representatives.

The first group of articles centers on the war with Iran. Massie charged Hegseth with entering the conflict without congressional authorization, ignoring a congressional resolution calling for U.S. forces to leave hostilities and continuing operations beyond a 30 day limit without congressional approval.

Other articles allege that Hegseth disregarded laws intended to reduce civilian casualties, directed extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, retaliated against a member of Congress and kidnapped the sovereign leader of another country. Massie also accused him of conducting an “unlawful war” in Yemen.

On Venezuela, Massie argued that the raid and extradition of President Nicolás Maduro amounted to the unlawful removal, or kidnapping, of a sovereign foreign leader. He claimed the operation sought “regime change and the acquisition of foreign oil.”

Massie’s civilian harm allegations include military operations at an elementary school in Minab, Iran. He wrote that those operations were conducted “in a manner that resulted in the death or injury of more than 200 civilians.”

The Kentucky Republican also accused Hegseth of weakening safeguards designed to protect civilians. Massie cited the elimination of funding for an Army database used to record civilian harm and the removal of 90% of Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response staff assigned to combatant commands.

Massie further alleged that Hegseth cultivated a “war-making culture” inside the War Department. The articles connect that allegation to the broader accusation that civilian protection measures were reduced while military operations expanded.

The impeachment effort also targets ongoing U.S. military boat strikes near Latin America and Asia. Massie pointed to more than 200 people killed in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, describing the deaths as “extrajudicial killings.”

According to the articles, Hegseth authorized lethal military force without a “lawful basis for treating such persons or vessels as military targets.” Massie also accused him of directing “the unlawful use of lethal military force, resulting in the summary execution of at least 243 persons in international waters.”

Massie wrote that Hegseth used his office “to compel members of the Armed Forces to carry out such operations under false legal authorities that he caused to be constructed and imposed upon the chain of command.” The filing places those allegations squarely on the secretary’s leadership and legal justification for the operations.

Yemen is another major part of Massie’s case. He accused Hegseth of waging war there without congressional authorization, despite what Massie characterized as the absence of an “imminent threat” to U.S. military personnel or American citizens from Houthi militants.

The campaign lasted for weeks and included more than 1,100 U.S. strikes, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Massie cited messages from a leaked Signal chat involving Hegseth and other senior Trump administration officials.

During that chat, Vice President JD Vance suggested pausing operations for a month. Hegseth told national security officials, “We can easily pause.”

Massie separately accused Hegseth of attempting to suppress free speech through legal cases brought against Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. Kelly had participated in a video in which members of Congress urged troops not to follow illegal orders.

“In all of this, Secretary Hegseth has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Secretary of War 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 of America,” Massie wrote.

“Wherefore, Secretary of War Peter Hegseth, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.”

A congressional vote was not expected until later in the week. Hegseth dismissed the potential action against him Monday and defended the operations cited by Massie.

“If you want to take issue with what we did in Epic Fury or Rough Rider or nabbing Nicolás Maduro, you’re taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished, which is historic,” Hegseth told reporters, referring to the initial Iran operations, the 2025 Yemen campaign and the January attack on Venezuela.