House blocks impeachment effort against Defense Secretary Hegseth

The House of Representatives on Tuesday blocked an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, voting 211-204 to refer the resolution to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, effectively killing the effort for now.

The impeachment bid was introduced by Republican congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Massie was the only Republican to vote against moving the resolution to the committee, joining all Democrats in opposition. More than a dozen members, including 11 Democrats, missed the vote.

Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment on Monday, alleging Hegseth waged war on Iran without congressional authorization and oversaw extrajudicial killings in the campaign against boats alleged to be carrying drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The articles also accused Hegseth of violating the Constitution with the capture of Venezuela's then president, Nicolás Maduro, and a bombing campaign in Yemen.

Hegseth called the impeachment effort a "farce" and "sabotage" at a Pentagon news conference on Tuesday. He also described it as a "political spectacle" and said it was motivated by policy differences rather than "high crimes, not misdemeanours, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offences the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause."

President Donald Trump celebrated the measure's defeat on Truth Social, calling Massie "a major LOSER" and referring to the "EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot." Trump also wrote, "Congress, stand up for Pete!!!"

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said following the vote: "This is not the end of it. It's just the beginning." Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections and will take control in January, when they could revive the impeachment effort.

The Pentagon declared "total victory" after the vote. Sean Parnell, a department spokesperson, wrote in a social media post: "The referral of these baseless impeachment articles to the House judiciary committee marks total victory for Secretary Hegseth, the Department of War, and the American warfighter."

Only two Cabinet secretaries in U.S. history have been impeached: Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876 and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024. Belknap was acquitted by the Senate, while Mayorkas had his charges dismissed.

Sources

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