Common Sense HR

The anti Massie bots have received their orders and they are out in full force. The Constitution means absolutely nothing to those continually seeking a MAGA pat on the head. Massie is doing what the Constitution actually requires. Congress, not the Secretary of Defense, holds the power to declare war (Art. I, Sec. 8). The War Powers Resolution of 1973 is the statute that implements that clause: no declaration, no specific authorization, no attack on the United States, then the clock runs and the forces come home. Hegseth blew past all three. He started hostilities in Iran without any of those predicates, ignored the concurrent resolution both chambers passed directing withdrawal, and kept the war going after the 60/90-day limit expired. That is not a policy disagreement. That is the executive treating a congressional limit as optional. Cabinet secretaries are “civil Officers” under Article II, Section 4. They can be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors; abuse of power and defiance of constitutional structure, not just a criminal indictment. Executing and sustaining unauthorized war, degrading the targeting rules Congress wrote to protect civilians, substituting lethal military force for law enforcement against suspected smugglers, and using the Pentagon to punish a senator for saying troops may refuse unlawful orders are all within that category. Officers are not required to follow illegal orders; they are required to refuse them. People attacking Massie are not defending “the team.” They are defending the claim that the President and his war secretary may start, continue, and expand wars without Congress. That claim inverts the Constitution. If loyalty to an administration now outweighs the Declare War Clause, then the clause is dead and impeachment is the only remaining check. Massie used it. That is the correct constitutional move.