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Ep 149 - “Trump Told Me To” — The Case Against Pete Hegseth

2 days ago
6 min read

There is something revealing about a defense that begins by pointing to the person above you. As Pete Hegseth faces eight articles of impeachment, the administration wants Americans to focus on the fact that Donald Trump ordered the military operations in question and that Hegseth carried them out effectively. That establishes where the orders came from. It leaves a considerably more important question unanswered. What gave either man the authority to do what they did? 


“Trump told me to” explains where the order came from—it doesn’t explain what made it lawful.
“Trump told me to” explains where the order came from—it doesn’t explain what made it lawful.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s defense of Hegseth rests heavily on presidential direction and effective execution. Hegseth himself has called the impeachment effort a political spectacle and characterized the allegations as policy disagreements. Those arguments deserve an answer. A military operation can accomplish its objective while still exceeding the authority of the officials who launched it. The skill of the people carrying out a mission cannot settle whether their civilian leaders had the right to send them.


I support impeaching Pete Hegseth. My judgment rests on what he has done with the powers of his office, particularly the campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers and his use of Pentagon authority against Senator Mark Kelly. Other articles raise substantial questions about war powers, civilian protection, and the scope of presidential authority. Each deserves examination on its own evidence. A case for impeachment can be compelling even where some allegations require more investigation than others.


On November 10, the Republican-led House voted to refer the articles to the Judiciary Committee, blocking the immediate path to an impeachment vote. That procedural decision leaves the underlying conduct unanswered. Sending allegations to a committee tells the public very little about whether the secretary can defend his decisions. Congress still owes Americans an accounting of the power exercised in their name.


The three Iran articles illustrate why the details matter. They address the decision to begin hostilities without congressional authorization, the continuation of military action after both chambers voted for withdrawal, and the statutory deadline for ending an unauthorized operation. These are separate decisions, taken at different points, with distinct legal disputes attached. Treating them as a general disagreement over whether the war was a good idea obscures the questions Congress is supposed to answer.


The administration has substantive arguments to make. It claims presidential authority to protect American forces and national interests. It disputes the binding force of Congress’s concurrent withdrawal resolution. It argues that a ceasefire ended hostilities for purposes of the war-powers deadline. Those positions should be tested against the law and the military’s actual conduct, including the continued blockade and renewed strikes. Congress should demand the orders and legal analysis rather than accept the executive branch’s description of its own limits.


That is the institutional danger running through this case. If an administration can launch a major campaign, decide when hostilities have ended, and determine for itself when congressional restrictions apply, Congress risks surrendering its role one interpretation at a time. The people who bear the consequences include service members sent into danger and civilians living under the weapons America deploys. Their lives deserve more deliberation than a president’s confidence in his own judgment.


The strike on the elementary school in Minab brings those consequences into devastating focus. Reuters reported that preliminary American investigative findings pointed to U.S. responsibility and the possible use of outdated targeting information. A United Nations fact-finding mission subsequently found reasonable grounds to attribute the strike to American forces and concluded that it amounted to a war crime. Those findings demand scrutiny of how the target was selected and reviewed.


Massie’s fourth article alleges that Hegseth weakened civilian protection systems in ways that contributed to the tragedy. The specific causal connection needs to be established. But there is already a documented institutional failure to examine. Reporting on the Pentagon inspector general’s findings described lost personnel, discontinued funding for data systems, and stalled oversight meetings. Congress required civilian protection work. Hegseth should have to explain how the department under his leadership fulfilled that obligation and whether its decisions compromised the review of this target.


The boat-strike campaign raises an even more direct question about the government’s claimed authority to kill. The administration argues that it is conducting an armed conflict against cartels. Critics challenge whether suspected drug traffickers can lawfully be treated as military targets. Drug trafficking causes immense suffering, and pursuing those responsible is a legitimate government function. That suffering cannot, by itself, establish a legal basis for launching missiles at people the executive branch identifies as suspects.


The September 2 strike and the follow-up attack that killed survivors require particular scrutiny. Hegseth authorized the operation and later defended the additional strike. He said he did not see the survivors and learned afterward of Admiral Frank Bradley’s decision. Lawmakers reported that Bradley denied receiving an order from Hegseth to kill everyone aboard. Those distinctions matter. Congress needs the complete footage, communications, and orders to establish each official’s responsibility. It should also examine the broader campaign Hegseth authorized, regardless of who issued that particular follow-up order.


With Mark Kelly, the record of Hegseth’s personal action is especially clear. After Kelly participated in a video reminding service members that they could refuse illegal orders, Hegseth issued a censure and directed a review that could reduce Kelly’s retired rank and pay. Kelly challenged the actions, and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction. The administration appealed. The dispute concerns the Pentagon’s claimed authority over a retired officer who is also a sitting senator with responsibilities to oversee that department.


I regard that use of authority as an abuse of office. A defense secretary can criticize a senator’s statements and explain why he thinks them irresponsible. Putting the machinery of military discipline behind that disagreement creates consequences for public speech that reach beyond one senator. Other veterans can see what happened. They should be able to contribute their experience to public debate without wondering whether the secretary will reach into their retirement to punish them.


The final two articles concern Venezuela and Yemen. An indictment against Nicolás Maduro does not, by itself, establish authority for a military operation in another country. Likewise, the genuine danger posed by Houthi attacks on shipping does not settle the authority for a sustained bombing campaign. The administration’s arguments about limited operations and defense against threats deserve examination alongside the scale, objectives, and consequences of what the Pentagon actually did. Hegseth’s role belongs in that examination.


Congress should make its judgment from that record. Obtain the legal opinions. Examine the targeting procedures. Establish who authorized each consequential decision. Ask officials to explain their conduct under oath. And where the evidence establishes an abuse of public trust, use the constitutional power to hold the official responsible. That is the oversight these specific allegations warrant.


If Donald Trump gave the order, Donald Trump has questions to answer. Pete Hegseth has questions to answer, too. He accepted an office carrying extraordinary power over where American forces go and who may die when they arrive. “Trump told me to” helps identify the chain of command. It cannot be the end of accountability for the men at its top.


SOURCES

Thomas Massie’s eight articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth, full resolution - https://massie.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hegseth_articles_of_impeachment.pdf

Massie’s explanation and summary of the eight articles - https://massie.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=395863

Reuters reporting on the House vote referring the articles to the Judiciary Committee - https://www.reuters.com/world/pentagon-chief-hegseth-calls-moves-impeach-him-farce-that-will-fail-2026-11-10/

ABC News reporting on Hegseth’s response and Rubio’s defense of his actions - https://abcnews.com/US/hegseth-dismisses-impeachment-effort-political-spectacle/story?id=138002466

War Powers Resolution provisions governing presidential use of military force - https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/1541

War Powers Resolution provisions governing withdrawal, deadlines, and congressional action - https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title50/html/USCODE-2024-title50-chap33-sec1544.htm

Congress’s Iran withdrawal resolution, H. Con. Res. 86 - https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BILLS-119hconres86enr

Trump’s March 2026 war-powers notification and explanation for the Iran strikes, published by Lawfare - https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/white-house-submits-iran-war-powers-report-to-congress

Congressional Research Service overview and timeline of the Iran conflict, hosted by EveryCRSReport - https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R48887.html

Reuters reporting on the administration’s initial justification for attacking Iran - https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trumps-republicans-defend-iran-strikes-democrats-push-war-powers-vote-2026-03-03/

Associated Press reporting on Trump’s claim that Iran hostilities had ended before the war-powers deadline - https://apnews.com/article/41ef029df176a6486422e9d68aa6d872

Stars and Stripes reporting on inspector general findings concerning weakened civilian protection programs - https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-05-19/pentagon-report-iran-casualty-civilian-21717316.html

Federal law establishing the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence - https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/184

Reuters explanation of the legal questions surrounding the boat strike and killing of survivors, republished by Investing.com - https://www.investing.com/news/world-news/explainerdid-the-us-military-commit-a-war-crime-in-boat-attack-off-venezuela-4390416

Associated Press reporting on Admiral Bradley’s account and denial of a “kill them all” order from Hegseth - https://apnews.com/article/cf60e435be9a9a73656816c7678491b8

Task & Purpose reporting on Hegseth’s defense of the boat-strike campaign - https://taskandpurpose.com/news/hegseth-impeachment-boat-strikes/

ABC News reporting on Hegseth’s censure of Mark Kelly and proposed retirement consequences - https://abcnews.com/Politics/hegseth-sen-mark-kelly-receive-administrative-punishment-video/story?id=128911622

Reuters reporting on the injunction blocking the Pentagon’s effort to punish Kelly - https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-blocks-pentagons-effort-punish-senator-mark-kelly-2026-02-12/

Associated Press reporting on the Pentagon’s appeal in Kelly’s case - https://apnews.com/article/210024d0b2d5bd5c8f3c890ba934f608

Reuters examination of the legal authority for capturing Maduro, republished by Investing.com - https://www.investing.com/news/world-news/explainerwas-the-us-capture-of-venezuelas-president-legal-4430721

Associated Press reporting on Maduro’s capture and Trump’s statements about running Venezuela and its oil resources - https://apnews.com/article/ca712a67aaefc30b1831f5bf0b50665e

Justice Department legal opinion concerning the operation to apprehend Maduro - https://www.justice.gov/olc/media/1423306/dl

Reuters reporting on Operation Rough Rider and the continuing Houthi threat after the campaign - https://www.reuters.com/world/us-bombing-dents-doesnt-destroy-houthi-threat-yemen-2025-05-07/

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