In a significant development on Capitol Hill, an attempt to impeach US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is accused of waging war on Iran without congressional authorization, has been halted. The House of Representatives voted against moving the impeachment articles to a committee, effectively ending the effort for now, as Democrats will take control in January. The bid aimed at finding Hegseth guilty of misconduct and ultimately removing him from office was considered a long shot, given it might have required numerous Republicans defying President Donald Trump. The Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, who introduced the impeachment resolution, was the only Republican to vote against moving it to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. His effort failed in a 211-204 vote, with several members missing the vote. If successful, the impeachment resolutions could be carried over past the end of the congressional term, enabling Democrats to take it up next year. President Trump welcomed the vote, praising Hegseth as a "Great American Patriot" on Truth Social.
In his first press conference from the Pentagon in six months, Defense Secretary Hegseth labeled the impeachment effort a "farce" and "sabotage." He argued that removing him now would endanger national security by communicating to US adversaries that the United States will punish its own warriors for executing lawful military operations. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, had predicted earlier in the day that the impeachment bid would fail. The eight articles of impeachment formally introduced in the House on Monday accused Hegseth of breaking the law by waging war in Iran without congressional approval and overseeing extrajudicial killings in the US campaign against drug-carrying boats in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Congressman Massie, who lost his re-election to a Trump-backed opponent earlier this year, has been critical of both Trump and the war in Iran since its inception in February. While Hegseth has survived politically for now, many lawmakers question how long he can last in the administration. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, expected Hegseth to resign or be fired by Trump.