Thomas Massie Says He Hid Pete Hegseth Impeachment Articles From GOP Leaders: 'I Was Afraid They Would Do Something to Subvert Me'

GOP rebel Rep. Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on September 15 in a surprise move that he kept hidden from his peers.

“I didn’t want to show it to anybody,” he told Kaitlan Collins during an appearance on CNN’s The Source. “I was afraid that they would do something to subvert me getting on the floor for an hour and 20 minutes and reading these articles.”

The impeachment articles are the latest bombshell dropped by the 55-year-old Kentucky congressman, who emerged as one of Donald Trump's most vocal critics during the first half of the president's second term.

During a 67-minute appearance where he read the 34-page articles of impeachment against the 46-year-old defense secretary, Massie said Hegseth "has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law."

He accused Hegseth of ignoring laws intended to minimize civilian killings, ordering extrajudicial killings, suppressing free speech and kidnapping a foreign leader, referring to the United States' extraordinary arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

"Frankly, I was concerned that Mike Johnson would end Congress again, like shorten even our already truncated work period if he found out I was doing this. So I shared the idea with nobody," Massie revealed.

Johnson now has 48 hours to call a vote on Massie's resolution — and it's unclear if any Republicans will join Massie in his vote to impeach. Republicans hold a razor-thin 218-214 advantage in the House, meaning only two additional Republicans would need to flip for the motion to pass, assuming all Democrats vote to impeach.

Despite the relatively decent chance of Johnson's motion to pass the House, impeachment would likely die in the Senate, where a two-thirds supermajority of senators would need to vote in favor of impeaching Hegseth.

The Pentagon insisted Hegseth was doing a great job as defense secretary, saying, "Secretary Hegseth has been a transformative leader for the Department of War" and that the "entire Department is unified behind the Secretary’s vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first."

Hegseth is deeply mired in controversy. In addition to the charges levied at him by Massie, Hegseth is also dealing with the military's depleted munitions and fading morale. The impeachment push comes days after Trump biographer Michael Wolff said Hegseth has lost the support of Pentagon insiders and senior White House staff, though he still has a fan in President Trump.

Massie seems intent on staying a thorn in the Trump administration's side until the end of his term.

After he helped force Republicans to release the Epstein files, Trump poured his efforts into unseating him this election cycle. Trump dumped money into the campaign of Massie's challenger, Ed Gallrein, and Gallrein defeated Massie in Kentucky's May primary.

Massie's impeachment plan will force Republicans to go on the record to defend Hegseth ahead of the midterms, in which the GOP's prospects are gloomy.

"Why today? Because Speaker Johnson has basically canceled the rest of Congress until the elections," Massie explained on the 15th. "Two days from now is the end of our session before we go on recess, and there can be a vote within two days. So I had to do it today."