“Absurd Ruse” – House Republican Accuses Pete Hegseth Of “BREAKING THE LAW”

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) accused Secretary of War Pete Hegseth of “breaking the law,” arguing the Pentagon is “pretending there have been two Iran wars separated by a brief cease-fire.”

“Let me explain this absurd ruse,” Massie said.

“The reality: By going more than 90 days without congressional authorization @SecWar IS BREAKING THE LAW and must be held accountable,” he added.

Massie’s comment follows a report by The New York Times claiming the Pentagon “removed the names of 4 servicemembers who died in Jordan from their official list of casualties.”

Let me explain this absurd ruse: The Pentagon is pretending there have been two Iran wars separated by a brief cease-fire.

The reality: By going more than 90 days without congressional authorization @SecWar IS BREAKING THE LAW and must be held accountable. https://t.co/SuHcGkJcD3

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 24, 2026

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More from The New York Times:

On Wednesday, the Pentagon reported on its casualties website that a total of 18 American service members had been killed during the war in Iran.

By Thursday, the Defense Department had lowered that number, reporting that 14 American troops had been killed in the war.

Three military officials said that one reason behind the change was that the Trump administration decided to remove four service members killed this past weekend from the list — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — because their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a cease-fire in the war in April.

The officials described sensitive internal discussions on the condition of anonymity.

The acting press secretary for the Pentagon, Joel Valdez, attributed the change instead to “temporary data disruptions” on the website that he suggested would be quickly fixed.

Since the cease-fire collapsed, the Pentagon has provided little information about the American military strategy and has been slow to release information about troops’ injuries. The last major Pentagon briefing on the war was in early May.

The Defense Department has said that disclosing Iranian strikes on bases where U.S. troops are housed would compromise operational security.

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“The Department of WAR is not counting these American service members deaths in the official tally of dead U.S. soldiers from Trump’s war against Iran because they claim they were killed after Trump signed the MOU even though we are bombing every day,” former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said.

“This is REPULSIVE,” she added.

The Department of WAR is not counting these American service members deaths in the official tally of dead U.S. soldiers from Trump’s war against Iran because they claim they were killed after Trump signed the MOU even though we are bombing every day.
This is REPULSIVE.

https://t.co/HIfxElsDuQ

— Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene

(@FmrRepMTG) July 24, 2026

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“The department attempted to explain the anomalies to The New York Times ahead of publication, but given their lack of knowledge in this area, they proceeded to write a non-story,” Valdez said, according to The Hill.

“We remain committed to ensuring the utmost accuracy of all casualty reporting,” Valdez added.

The Hill shared further:

Massie argued that treating the renewed fighting as a separate conflict would allow the administration to restart the timeline established under the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Fighting in the region began in late February, but a temporary ceasefire was reached during now-stalled peace talks.

A 14-point memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran last month, which included another pause in fighting, has since crumbled as each side accused the other of violating the terms. The U.S. military completed its 13th night of strikes early Friday.

Under the War Powers Resolution, a president must end unauthorized U.S. military involvement within 60 days unless Congress formally declares war or otherwise approves the operation. The president may also receive an additional 30 days to safely withdraw U.S. troops.

The House earlier this week passed a war powers resolution that would limit the military operation in the Middle East. Lawmakers in the Senate, however, failed to pass a similar measure.

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