Pete Hegseth faces impeachment. Could an open Tennessee Senate seat save him?
By: Afton Pratt
Democrats regained control of both the U.S. Senate and House in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, flipping seven Senate seats and 26 House seats.
The victories put several members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet at risk of impeachment, including Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth has been accused of violating the U.S. Constitution, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, sent lawmakers home a day early in October to avoid a vote on a Hegseth impeachment resolution.
Other members of Trump’s Cabinet at risk of being impeached are Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
With the potential for Hegseth to be ousted from his post, there is chance he could seek election or appointment to another office. Here’s why it could most likely happen in Tennessee.
Why Pete Hegseth is at risk of being impeached
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, announced on Sept. 15 that he would force a vote in the House to impeach Hegseth when Congress returns. Congress returns on Nov. 9.
Massie says Hegseth is in violation of three provisions of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Those alleged violations include starting the war in Iran without a declaration of war, continuing the war with Iran after Congress ordered the removal of U.S. forces, and continuing the war with Iran after the expiration of the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day termination period and any potential 30-day withdrawal period.
Hegseth is also accused of ignoring other laws, including:
- Ignoring laws aimed at minimizing civilian deaths. Massie said he is charging Hegseth “with ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties.”
- Ignoring maritime law. The Trump administration and Hegseth oversaw strikes on boats off the coast of South America that they said were carrying drugs and that the people aboard were planning to illegally traffic the drugs into the U.S. The strikes resulted in at least 221 deaths, according to Massie.
- Suppressing free speech. Hegseth threatened to reduce the military pension of Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, after Kelly and five other Democrats released a video urging active-duty service members to remember their obligation to refuse unlawful orders. Kelly filed a lawsuit arguing that the punishment violated his First Amendment right to free speech.
- Kidnapping a foreign leader. “He effed around and found out,” Hegseth said after the U.S. military attacked Caracas, Venezuela, and took the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife into U.S. custody.
- Waging an unlawful war in Yemen. Known as “Operation Rough Rider,” Hegseth and the Trump administration dropped bombs on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 15, 2025. Hegseth launched the operation “without congressional authorization or an imminent threat to the United States,” Massie said.
“He (Hegseth) is abusing the power of his office to ignore congressional war powers resolutions, to kidnap foreign leaders, and to intimidate critics of the Trump administration by retaliating against them for exercising free speech. If we are to remain true to our oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States,’ Congress must not turn a blind eye to Secretary Hegseth’s unconstitutional and illegal actions,” Massie said in a press release.
Republicans still have the majority in the House and Senate until the 120th Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3. The Republican majority could block the impeachment resolution by voting to table it.
Is Pete Hegseth from Tennessee?
Hegseth, 46, was sworn in on Jan. 25, 2025, after being confirmed by the Senate in a 51-50 vote. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote.
Hegseth was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in Forest Lake, Minnesota. He attended Princeton University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics in 2003. In 2013, he attended Harvard University, where he earned a master’s degree in public policy. During an episode of FOX & Friends, which Hegseth co-hosted from 2016 to 2024, Hegseth wrote “return to sender” on his degree and said he was mailing it back to Harvard.
From 2002 to 2021, Hegseth was an infantryman in the U.S. Army National Guard. He was deployed three times to Guantánamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan. During his military service, he worked as a veterans’ advocate for two organizations, Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.
Hegseth is married to Jennifer Rauchet, and the two moved to Middle Tennessee in 2022. They live in Sumner County with their seven children.
Could Pete Hegseth run for office in Tennessee?
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn was elected as Tennessee’s next governor during the Nov. 3 election. Blackburn will need to choose someone to fill her Senate seat until a special election in 2028. Rumors that Hegseth could be Blackburn’s pick have recently swirled in the Volunteer State.
Blackburn could choose Hegseth, but he would not be qualified to run in the 2028 Republican primary without special permission from the state party.
Candidates who run in GOP primaries must meet a certain set of standards established in the Tennessee Republican Party bylaws. One of those standards requires candidates to have voted in three of the four most recent statewide Republican primary elections.
Voting records show that Hegseth did not vote in the August 2026 primary or the March 2024 presidential primary. However, Blackburn could still appoint him, giving Hegseth the opportunity to leave the Pentagon without being impeached, resigning or being fired.
If Hegseth were to run for Senate in 2028, he would need to request a waiver from the Tennessee Republican Party. The state party chair and State Executive Committee members would then need to vote on the request.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Knox News on Oct. 21 that “Hegseth’s singular focus is leading the War Department. All other speculation is foolish.”
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