House Shelves Massie’s Push to Impeach Hegseth, 211-204

The vote spares the Defense secretary for now, but Democrats take control of Congress in January.

The Republican-led House voted 211-204 Tuesday night to send articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee, effectively killing the effort for the rest of this Congress.

The resolution came not from Democrats but from Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican and longtime critic of the administration’s foreign policy. Massie was the only Republican to vote against sending it to committee.

What Massie charged

Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment on Monday. They accuse Hegseth of abusing his authority by waging war against Iran without authorization from Congress, failing to protect civilians, and overseeing deadly strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Massie also argued Hegseth had defied a congressional vote to end the Middle East conflict.

Reading the articles on the House floor, Massie said Hegseth had shown he “will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office.”

Because Massie filed the measure as privileged, House rules forced Republican leaders to bring it up within two legislative days. That set up a potential up-or-down impeachment vote as early as Wednesday, until leaders won the motion to refer it to committee.

Massie lost his own Republican primary in May to a challenger backed by President Trump, and will leave Congress in January.

Hegseth: “a farce”

Hegseth opened the day with a combative Pentagon news conference, calling the effort a “political spectacle.” He said each operation cited in the articles, from the Iran war to the boat strikes, was a lawful action directed by the president, and framed the resolution as an attack on service members.

“It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt and everybody knows it,” Hegseth said.

The White House closed ranks behind him. Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that the question of whether Hegseth had committed impeachable crimes was absurd, and President Trump gave Hegseth an “A-plus” grade after the press conference. House Speaker Mike Johnson had said Republicans would defeat the resolution “one way or the other.”

A narrow margin, with help from absences

Republicans hold a razor-thin 218-214 majority, so a handful of GOP defections could have changed the outcome. In the end, the defections never came. Even some Republicans who have openly criticized Hegseth said they did not believe his conduct rose to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Absences also mattered. Seven Republicans and 11 Democrats missed the vote. Democratic leaders did not whip their members, though Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Pete Aguilar both said they would vote to impeach.

The fight isn’t over

The reprieve may be short-lived. The push followed last week’s midterm elections, in which Democrats won majorities in both the House and Senate. Several Republicans have blamed those losses partly on the Iran war and its economic fallout. Jeffries, the presumptive next speaker, has already signaled support for impeaching Hegseth.

Even if the new House impeaches him next year, removal would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate. At least one Republican senator has broken ranks: Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Tuesday he is “likely to vote against Hegseth” if the articles reach the Senate.

This is a developing story and will be updated.