The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to block an effort to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, effectively killing the resolution by referring it to the House Judiciary Committee.
In a 211-to-204 procedural vote, House Republicans successfully rallied to table the impeachment push introduced by outgoing Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Massie was the sole member of his party to vote alongside all voting Democrats against referring the measure to the committee.
The move sidestepped what would have been a historic full House floor vote on individual articles of impeachment against a sitting Cabinet member. The impeachment resolution leveled serious allegations against Secretary Hegseth, accusing him of committing high crimes and misdemeanors while serving as the head of the Pentagon.
Among the charges were claims that Hegseth bypassed Congress by executing military operations in Iran without authorization, failed to minimize civilian casualties, ordered extrajudicial strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, directed operations involved in the capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and retaliated against Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
Rep. Massie claimed that Hegseth carried out unlawful orders and compromised constitutional standards, seeking a formal trial in the U.S. Senate. In response to the resolution, Hegseth and administration officials forcefully pushed back against the charges ahead of the vote.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday morning, Hegseth described the impeachment push as a partisan “farce” and “political spectacle,” asserting that policy disagreements over military campaigns should not be twisted into impeachable offenses.
President Donald Trump also rallied behind his defense chief in social media posts and public statements, defending Hegseth’s actions and urging congressional Republicans to reject the resolution. Following the vote, Pentagon officials declared total victory, stating that referring the articles to committee put an end to a political distraction.
Although the procedural maneuver halts the current effort during the outgoing Congress, the battle over Hegseth’s tenure may reemerge. House Democrat leaders, including Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), supported the impeachment push, and other Democrat lawmakers have signaled that they could revive investigations or file new impeachment articles when the new Congress convenes in January with a shifted Democrat majority.
Nonetheless, for now, the procedural vote ensures Hegseth remains in his post as the administration continues to uphold its foreign policy and military directives.
