House Republicans blocked an attempt to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, voting 211–204 to refer the articles of impeachment to the House Judiciary Committee.
The procedural move effectively shelved the effort for the remainder of the current Congress’s term, which concludes in eight weeks.
The resolution was introduced by outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who was the sole Republican to vote against the referral, ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. President Donald Trump celebrated the outcome on social media, hailing what he termed an “EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot” and criticizing Massie.
Massie’s resolution contained eight articles of impeachment, with four focused on the war in Iran (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
.@POTUS "All they do is they talk about impeaching everybody. Honestly, if we wanted to play that game, we could play it just as well… They're talking about Pete Hegseth—HE'S A GREAT WARRIOR. I think he's the best at his job in many, many years." pic.twitter.com/zcSFYyb9t1
— Post by @DOWResponse on X
The measure alleged that Hegseth initiated the conflict without congressional authorization, ignored a congressional resolution ordering the withdrawal of United States forces, extended the fighting past a 60-day limit without seeking an extension, and disregarded laws intended to minimize civilian casualties (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). The remaining four articles addressed operations in Venezuela and Yemen (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
Hours before the vote, Hegseth held a press conference at the Pentagon where he dismissed the push as a political stunt (The Guardian, Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Defending the military actions as lawful operations directed by the commander-in-chief, Hegseth stated:
At the War Department: We Stand. We Fight. We Defend the Republic. pic.twitter.com/Kkr0DazmCE
— Post by @SecWar on X
“For the first time in American history, a cabinet secretary overseeing America’s military is being attacked not for losing conflicts with our enemies, but for winning them.”
The Pentagon also welcomed the outcome, with department spokesperson Sean Parnell calling the referral of the articles “total victory for Secretary Hegseth, the Department of War, and the American warfighter” in a social media statement.
The vote unfolded shortly after Republicans suffered losses in the midterm elections, ceding control of both the House and Senate to the Democrats ahead of the January transition. Although the impeachment effort was driven primarily by Democrats, 11 Democratic lawmakers missed the vote, a factor that proved decisive in preventing a defeat of the procedural referral motion.
The absent Democrats included Julia Brownley, Lou Correa, Nancy Pelosi, Laura Gillen, Steven Horsford, Jonathan Jackson, Brittany Pettersen, Melanie Stansbury, Haley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland, and Frederica Wilson. The lawmakers offered various explanations for their absence, ranging from traffic delays in Washington, DC, to a health procedure in California and a veterans event.
THE HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP has noticed a 5:30pm vote on a procedural motion on Hegseth’s impeachment. Their options are table or refer to committee.
— Post by @JakeSherman on X
The missed votes sparked frustration among other Democrats, with California Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove remarking: “We knew that this vote was coming, so people should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries maintained his support for the resolution, stating in an interview that he was “a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution” and accusing the defense secretary of undermining national security. While Democrats will take control of the chamber in January, removing Hegseth would still require a two-thirds conviction vote in the Senate (Al Jazeera, Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
Has Pete Hegseth committed impeachable crimes? The question is absurd and the answer is: obviously not. Like so much of Congress, impeachment has become a ridiculous show that stands in for actual policymaking. Congress has so many tools for registering its policy disagreements.…
— Post by @JDVance on X
More on House Republicans
House GOP leaders just successfully killed Massie's push to impeach Secretary Hegseth, per @sarahnferris. https://t.co/Um8tCD7EVS
— Post by @kaitlancollins on X