By J.C. Bruce
After reading the articles of impeachment filed against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, my first reaction was this:
Are these charges actually just against Hegseth? Don’t they equally apply to Donald Trump?
If so, what’s with the proxy war? Why just prosecute one of the mob boss’s enforcers when the Godfather is equally guilty?
There are political considerations, of course. And math. While the numbers might be there to convict Hegseth in the Senate, it might be tougher, at least during this term of Congress, to oust Trump.
Cool fact, though: Unlike normal legislation, impeachments don’t die when Congress adjourns. Articles of impeachment carry over to the next Congress, where Democrats will have better numbers.
This, of course, assumes that Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s impeachment resolution passes the House. He filed it as a privileged resolution, meaning the House must vote on it this week.
Outgoing House Speaker Mike Johnson successfully delayed that vote when Massie originally filed the resolution back in September. How? By adjourning the House prematurely.
Now that the House is back in session, the fireworks can begin.
Here’s a summary of what the articles of impeachment actually charge. Judge for yourself whether you think they could just as easily apply to Trump:
1. Waging war without congressional authorization: Hegseth is accused of initiating the war against Iran without a declaration of war, specific congressional authorization, or an imminent threat justifying military action.
2. Defying Congress’s order to end the Iran war: He is accused of continuing military operations after both the House and Senate passed a resolution directing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iran.
3. Violating the 60-day War Powers deadline: He is accused of continuing the Iran war after the 60-day limit under the War Powers Resolution expired, without congressional authorization or a legally valid extension.
4. Ignoring laws protecting civilians: He is accused of dismantling Pentagon safeguards designed to prevent civilian casualties, contributing to the deadly U.S. strike on an Iranian girls’ school.
5. Extrajudicial killings: He is accused of authorizing military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that killed at least 221 people, including survivors of initial strikes who allegedly should have been rescued.
6. Suppressing free speech: He is accused of retaliating against Sen. Mark Kelly for publicly telling military personnel they could refuse illegal orders, including threatening him with prosecution and disciplinary action.
7. Kidnapping a foreign head of state: He is accused of directing the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, allegedly without congressional authorization and partly to gain control of Venezuela’s oil resources.
8. Unlawful war in Yemen: He is accused of directing the 2025 military campaign against the Houthis without congressional authorization, despite acknowledging there was no imminent threat to the United States. The resolution cites civilian deaths and the leaked Signal discussion about delaying the operation.
I’ll add a couple of random thoughts regarding the politics of all this, and I would love to see what you think.
While, in my view, Trump certainly is just as vulnerable—really, more so—than Hegseth on all these charges, impeaching the president might not be the best move politically for Democrats—never mind that it would be good for the country.
I’m reminded of Napoleon Bonaparte’s famous saying: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
Every day Trump is in office is another headline for how mad he is, how reckless he is, how, frankly, stupid he is. He’s the reason for the Bluenami.
Then, again, think of all the harm he might do in the next two years.
If you’re Trump, you could force Hegseth to resign to avoid the impeachment headlines, but you might also calculate that letting Hegseth be the fall guy takes some of the pressure off—it wasn’t Trump’s fault; he was just badly advised.
Or, being famously belligerent, Trump could just tough it out, and the remaining Republicans in the Senate might fold like a soggy tortilla and let Hegseth off the hook.
It’s a high-stakes gamble for everyone.
Personally, I would love it if some gutsy Democratic House member offered a friendly amendment to Massie’s resolution adding Trump to the articles of impeachment.
As a further aside, the prediction markets are betting that Trump will likely be impeached sometime before the end of his term. Polymarket says the odds are 83%; Kalshi says 70% to 76.6%.
However, both markets show substantially lower odds of conviction in the Senate—Polymarket at 18% and Kalshi at 28%.
What say you? Should we just go ahead and impeach Trump too?
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Don’t impeach Trump with Hegseth. Bring bankers, CEO’s, necessary staff, and Cabinet members before House committees. Make the case through them that Trump is implicated to the point that there can be no deniability on Trumps part. Show the Country and the world how terrible and unfit he is to be president.
Although Impeaching Trump seems fitting, investigating Trump and his administration can be done when he is no longer in office. Impeachment would keep him in the limelight where he wants to be. Our leaders need to go forward. Stop our country's bleeding and do emergency surgery on the damage he has inflicted.