The House of Representatives voted 211-204 on Tuesday to send eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee, effectively killing the effort and handing the embattled Pentagon chief a major victory.
The vote came one day after Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, reintroduced the articles as a privileged resolution, forcing House leaders to act within two legislative days. Instead of allowing a floor vote on the charges themselves, the Republican majority voted to refer the resolution to committee, where it is expected to stall.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon. Photo: U.S. Department of Defense, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
A lone Republican break
Massie was the only Republican to vote against sending the articles to committee — that is, the only member of his party to support an immediate vote on the charges. Every other Republican voted to refer the measure, while Democrats voted to keep it alive.
The narrow margin came down in part to absences: 11 Democrats and seven Republicans did not vote. According to USA Today, had all of the absent Democrats — a group that included former Speaker Nancy Pelosi — shown up, the impeachment effort would have survived the procedural vote.
The result is a significant defeat for House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who had called himself a "hard yes" on impeachment, and it comes just ahead of a Democratic leadership election next week.
What the eight articles alleged
Massie's 34-page resolution contained eight articles of impeachment, most of them tied to the war with Iran. Three of the articles accused Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution by keeping U.S. forces engaged in hostilities without congressional approval. Others alleged failures to protect civilians, extrajudicial killings in strikes on suspected drug boats, retaliation against Sen. Mark Kelly, the seizure of Venezuela's president, and attacks on Yemen without approval.
The articles are allegations in a political charging document, not findings by a court, a military tribunal or an inspector general. Hegseth has not been charged with any crime.
The impeachment push followed the midterm elections, in which voters punished Republicans over the Iran war. About six in ten voters said the United States made the "wrong decision" in taking military action against Iran, according to the AP Voter Poll of more than 100,000 voters.
Hegseth's defiant response
Hours before the vote, Hegseth struck a defiant tone at a Pentagon news briefing — his first in more than six months — calling the impeachment effort a "farce" that would fail and thanking President Donald Trump for his continued support.
Trump had also weighed in, telling reporters he would be "disappointed" if House Republicans voted in favor of the resolution. Massie, who lost his Republican primary this year to a candidate backed by Trump, said other outgoing members of Congress might have been willing to vote yes on their way out of office.
What happens next
The referral spares Hegseth an impeachment vote for now — but only for now. Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate in last week's midterm elections, and they take control of Congress on January 3, 2027. The impeachment question could return then, either through Massie or through the incoming Democratic majority.
If Hegseth were ultimately impeached, he would become only the third Cabinet secretary in U.S. history to be impeached by the House. The Senate would then need to convict him by a two-thirds vote to remove him from office — a bar no Cabinet secretary has ever met.
For now, the Pentagon chief survives the most direct challenge yet to his tenure, and the White House keeps its defense secretary in place as the Iran war continues.
Sources: USA Today, Reuters, The Associated Press.