Republicans Have Had It With Massie, Rally Behind Hegseth

Republicans are rallying behind War Secretary Pete Hegseth — and lashing out at departing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) over his last-ditch effort to impeach the War Secretary on his way out the door.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called Massie’s filing a “political gambit for attention” when he spoke to reporters on Tuesday. Johnson, who will not seek the House minority leader position, referred to Massie as a “disgruntled congressman.”

“Thomas Massie is a disgruntled congressman. The impeachment effort is a political gambit for attention. I think Secretary Hegseth did an extraordinary job,” Johnson said, predicting that the House would reject the articles.

“The idea that you would impeach the Secretary of War at a time of international conflict sends a terrible message to our enemies and our allies, and we’re not going to play that game,” Johnson said, clearly admonishing Massie for bringing them. “You don’t impeach a cabinet secretary lightly … This is just purely to get attention, it’s shameful.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who made it clear on Monday that he stood with Hegseth, reiterated his support on Tuesday: “I don’t know how anyone could argue that drug dealers trying to import poison into our country is not an imminent threat. It’s a real and imminent threat, and it’s been addressed.

.@SecRubio: “Not only did @SecWar execute on a direct order from the Commander-in-Chief… But they did it quite effectively in all those fronts.” https://t.co/MdEwDD3DxX

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 10, 2026

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) also voiced his support for Hegseth on Tuesday, echoing Johnson’s sentiments and saying that he believed the impeachment was political rather than warranted.

“He didn’t commit any crimes. They’re after him for blowing those drug boats out of the water … There’s a three-tier process they went through for all that. Some of the boats they let go … it wasn’t just some cowboy type operation,” he said, adding, “It’s just politics.”

Vice President JD Vance threw his weight behind the War Secretary as well, arguing that he had not committed a single impeachable crime.

“Has Pete Hegseth committed impeachable crimes? The question is absurd and the answer is: obviously not. Like so much of Congress, impeachment has become a ridiculous show that stands in for actual policymaking. Congress has so many tools for registering its policy disagreements. Rather than use them, they’re going to try to impeach Pete Hegseth. They did the same to Donald Trump. Legislation is hard. Impeachments are easy (and ultimately, inconsequential),” he said, adding, “This isn’t about Iran, this is about the fact that Pete took on the bureaucracy at the Pentagon.”

President Donald Trump has also declared that he has full confidence in Hegseth, telling the press on Monday that he’d keep his War Secretary regardless of what happened with Massie’s impeachment articles.

Even Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who said he was not personally a fan of Hegseth, indicted he was leaning against impeachment.

“I don’t find myself compatible with the actual impeachment…I’m leaning no. I don’t agree with the impeachment itself,” Bacon said,

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) predicted that no matter what happened in the the House, any effort to impeach Hegseth was “gonna die in the Senate.”

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) also said she would not vote to impeach, adding that she fully supported the changes Hegseth had made at the Pentagon.

“Vote on Hegseth impeachment is at 5:30 pm today — I will not be voting to impeach,” she said. “The Iran war is through no fault of his own and he should not be the one scapegoated for it. I fully support the changes Hegseth has made to the DoW to make our fighting force the very best it can be.”

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