House Blocks Bid to Impeach Hegseth, but Democrats Can Revive It in January

On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives voted 211 to 204 to send articles of impeachment against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee. In practice, that ends the effort for now. The articles were introduced by Thomas Massie, a Kentucky congressman and one of the few Republicans willing to openly break with President Donald Trump. More than a dozen members missed the vote, among them 11 Democrats.

Massie was the only Republican to vote against moving the resolution to committee. His eight articles were formally introduced on Monday. They accuse Hegseth of breaking the law by fighting a war in Iran for more than 90 days without approval from lawmakers. They also accuse him of overseeing extrajudicial killings in the US campaign against boats alleged to be carrying drugs in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The Iran war began in February. Massie said Hegseth was breaking the law and must be held accountable.

The attempt was widely seen as a long shot, because removing a cabinet secretary would have required a number of other Republicans to defy Trump. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, predicted earlier on Tuesday that it would fail. Sending the articles to committee leaves little time for action, since only a short stretch of this Congress remains before Democrats take control in January. Democrats won both chambers in the midterm elections.

Hegseth answered in his first news briefing from the Pentagon in six months. He called the impeachment push a farce and sabotage, and described Massie as a disgruntled and defeated opponent of the administration staging a political stunt. He argued that the resolution endangered national security because it told US adversaries that the United States would punish its own warriors and civilian leadership for successfully carrying out lawful military operations. "This is not patriotism. This is sabotage," he said. He said Massie was driven by policy differences, not by high crimes, misdemeanours, treason or bribery, the offences he said the founders intended the impeachment clause to cover. He also repeated points Trump made in a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room on Monday, including a rise in military recruitment.

Trump celebrated on Truth Social, saying the effort had miserably failed. He cited victories in Venezuela and Iran, the best recruitment numbers in military history and high morale as leading to the exoneration of what he called a Great American Patriot.

Massie told CBS, the BBC's US media partner, that he was not surprised but was disappointed. He said Congress knows what to do but cannot bring itself to do it, even when it would benefit members politically. Massie lost his re-election bid earlier this year to a Trump-backed opponent. He has criticised Trump and the Iran war since it began, and had already drawn the president's anger by demanding the release of files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He had acknowledged the bid might not succeed immediately, but argued it could push Trump to replace Hegseth before Democrats start their own impeachment process. Removing Hegseth now, he said, would also give the Senate time to confirm a successor while Republicans still hold power.

The matter may not be settled. Impeachment resolutions can be carried past the end of a congressional term, so Democrats could take the case up next year. Many lawmakers, including some Republicans, have questioned how long Hegseth can remain in the administration. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz said on Tuesday that he expects Hegseth to resign or be fired by Trump. What to watch next is whether Democrats revive the articles when they take control in January.