Donald Trump and his administration have done a grave disservice to America’s military.
By politicizing the military, sending service members into wars of questionable legality, attempting to use military forces against American citizens, and seeking to punish veterans who exercise their constitutional rights, the Trump administration has attempted to turn the U.S. military into its own guns-for-hire battalion.
This is not how you honor America’s military.
Pete Hegseth has done an even graver disservice to the men and women who serve.
Having called for a “warrior ethos” that celebrates aggression, lethality and an unquestioning commitment to warfighting, the self-styled Secretary of War has repeatedly demonstrated a troubling disregard for the constitutional safeguards meant to govern the military’s use of force.
Now, faced with eight articles of impeachment introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), Hegseth has dismissed the effort as an act of “sabotage,” suggesting that holding military leaders accountable amounts to punishing the troops who carry out their orders.
Questioning the war makers is not an attack on the troops. It is one way of defending them.
The charges at the heart of Massie’s impeachment effort speak to an identity crisis under Hegseth’s leadership—one that pits the Founders’ vision of a military that exists to defend the Constitution and a constitutional form of government against a version of the military as a ruthless killing machine whose purpose is to invade, intimidate, and destroy the president’s enemies.
Three of Massie’s eight articles of impeachment accuse Hegseth of violating separate provisions of the War Powers Resolution by waging war against Iran without congressional authorization, continuing hostilities despite Congress’s direction to withdraw U.S. forces, and refusing to terminate military operations after the expiration of the law’s 60-day limit and potential 30-day withdrawal period.
The remaining five accuse Hegseth of disregarding laws meant to protect civilians during military operations; authorizing extrajudicial killings of suspected drug traffickers at sea; retaliating against Senator Mark Kelly for exercising his First Amendment rights; directing the military operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, without lawful authority; and waging an unauthorized military campaign in Yemen.
Hegseth wants to dismiss the impeachment effort as a disagreement over military policy, but this is about something far more fundamental than one man’s job or one administration’s military strategy.
It is about the constitutional balance of power.
Impeachment is not a criminal prosecution. It is one of the mechanisms the Founders provided for holding public officials accountable for serious abuses of power.
The Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the president, places the military under civilian authority, and binds those in power to the rule of law.
But those safeguards mean little when Congress refuses to challenge unauthorized wars, presidents treat military force as their private prerogative, and military leaders demand obedience without accountability.
Consider the human price of the war with Iran.
