House vote ends effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
A 211-204 vote on Tuesday killed eight articles of impeachment, though Democrats plan to revisit the issue after taking control of Congress in January.
By Neha Kapoor ·
The push to remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from office failed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The resolution died with a vote of 211 to 204, a margin that sent the matter back to committee and effectively halted the current impeachment process.
Outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced the measure on Monday. His proposal included eight articles of impeachment, alleging that Hegseth committed high crimes and misdemeanors. The accusations centered on the administration's conduct of the war in Iran, as well as specific military operations in Venezuela and Yemen.
Massie was the only Republican to vote in favor of the resolution. Eleven Democrats were absent from the floor during the count. The final tally missed the necessary threshold by seven votes, a narrow gap that underscored the split within the chamber.
President Donald Trump reacted immediately to the outcome. On the social platform Truth Social, he declared the effort a miserable failure. He referred to Massie as a major loser and praised Hegseth for overseeing the best recruitment numbers in military history, which he said have created long waiting lists for entry.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called the vote a total victory. He described the proposed articles as baseless and a political exercise devoid of merit, evidence, or seriousness. Hegseth himself dismissed the attempt as a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment.
Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, who is set to become the next speaker of the House, criticized Hegseth before the vote. Jeffries called him the architect of a reckless and costly war in Iran and argued that he had abused his power to undermine national security. Hegseth defended his orders to US forces as lawful, asserting that history will judge the conflict differently than current conventional wisdom suggests.
The failed vote leaves Hegseth's position stable for the next few months. Democrats are expected to regain control of both chambers of Congress in January following last week's midterm elections. A new attempt to impeach the defense secretary could be introduced once the party switch takes effect.
