A Republican lawmaker accused Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth of trampling on U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly's right to free speech, and he argued that move, among others, was grounds for impeachment.
The now-shelved impeachment effort was the latest twist in Kelly’s battle with the Trump administration over a video he made reminding U.S. service members that they do not need to follow illegal orders.
“He needs to go,” Kelly, D-Arizona, said in a CNN interview. "He should have never had the job to begin with."
Outgoing U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, led the charge to impeach Hegseth, who was nominated by President Donald Trump for the job of secretary for the Department of War, formally known as the Department of Defense.
The effort was effectively killed by U.S. House lawmakers on Nov. 10, when they voted narrowly to send the articles to committee. Arizona's congressional delegation voted on party lines, with Republicans supporting shelving the measure and Democrats opposing the move.
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The lower chamber is still controlled by Republicans until January. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Arizona, warned Hegseth not to get "too comfortable."
Sen. Mark Kelly, seen here during the Arizona Democrats' election night party in Phoenix, told CNN is time for Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth to removed.
"House Republicans may have spared you but you can’t avoid the inevitable. You will be held accountable for your illegal war when Democrats take the majority," she wrote in a social media post.
Massie had filed eight articles of impeachment against the Pentagon chief. The articles accuse Hegseth of unlawfully ignoring Congress to carry out Trump's war in Iran, illegally seizing the leader of Venezuela and inappropriately targeting suspected drug traffickers at sea.
“If we are to remain true to our oath to 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States,' the House of Representatives must act,” Massie said in a written statement.
Hegseth was accused in one of the articles of impeachment of using his War Department authority to “retaliate against and intimidate” Kelly for constitutionally protected speech.
Kelly, a U.S. Navy veteran and a 2028 Democratic presidential prospect, appeared in the illegal orders video with several other officials in November 2025. Trump was furious about the clip, accusing the participants of “sedition” and calling for them to be hanged.
At the Pentagon, Hegseth sought to censure and demote Arizona’s senior senator. Kelly sued and initially won, though Hegseth’s appeal is ongoing.
“They don’t want people speaking out. They would prefer everybody shut up,” Kelly said.
In addition to the free speech allegation, Massie’s articles of impeachment also accused Hegseth of waging war in Iran without a declaration of war and continuing the conflict after the House directed the removal of U.S. troops.
Massie will retire in January after being ousted by the president. The Kentucky lawmaker lost his seat in a Republican primary against a Trump-endorsed candidate.
Hegseth knocked Massie as "disgruntled" and said he's trying to use his final days in the House to damage the Trump administration.
"It's a farce and it's a stunt and everybody knows it," Hegseth said. "In the 250 years of our American republic, no secretary of war, or secretary of defense. has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations. And in our case, successful ones, at that."
However, Massie disagreed. His articles of impeachment accused Hegseth of “ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties.” The proposal said Hegseth traded maritime law enforcement for “unauthorized lethal military targeting” of suspected drug traffickers, leading to 243 deaths.
The articles also said Hegseth lacked constitutional or legal authority when he directed the military to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and that he violated similar rules regarding the war in Yemen.
“Many of those articles, I think six out of the eight, are about him following illegal orders, which I find quite ironic, that if Pete Hegseth would have just watched our video, listened to what we had to say, and maybe internalize it a little bit, he wouldn't find himself in this situation,” Kelly said.
Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Arizona, cited Kelly in reiterating his support for Hegseth's impeachment.
"He tried to illegally reduce the rank of Senator Mark Kelly, a decorated combat veteran, and those of other congressional veterans for speaking the truth," Stanton wrote on social media after the Nov. 10 effort stalled. "He has led an illegal war that has driven up costs for every American family, and voters made it clear they've had enough."
