Hegseth impeachment blocked as US House votes 211 to 204

The US House of Representatives voted 211 to 204 to refer the impeachment charges against Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee, which Republicans control. According to Reuters, the move effectively derailed an effort by Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. Massie was the only Republican to vote with Democrats against the motion.

Republicans rally behind the secretary

The vote came as Republicans sift through the fallout from heavy losses in the midterm elections. Some in the party blame the war in Iran and the sharp rise in fuel prices that followed. But after President Donald Trump publicly backed Hegseth, Republican lawmakers mostly sided with the secretary on Tuesday, AP noted.

The vote may only delay impeachment: in January, Democrats are set to take control of both the House and the Senate. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become the new speaker, firmly backed the effort. In his words, Hegseth “abused his power” and “endangered US national security.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also supported launching impeachment.

What Hegseth said and what the charges say

On Tuesday, at his first press conference in several months, Hegseth sharply rejected the attempt to remove him. He portrayed Massie as a rogue lawmaker and said he had committed none of the high crimes that, under the US Constitution, are grounds for removal. In his telling, the effort is an attack on service members and their achievements, and at the same time weakens the American military in real time. “This is not patriotism,” he said. “This is sabotage.”

Massie’s resolution contained eight articles of impeachment. They mostly concerned the war in Iran, but also mentioned Hegseth’s role in military operations in Yemen and Venezuela. Massie himself, who will leave Congress in January after losing a primary to a Trump-backed candidate, claims that Hegseth “knowingly carried out and enforced illegal orders.”

The Pentagon press conference was Hegseth’s first in half a year. He responded to growing discontent with military strategy across the political spectrum but, as AP writes, offered few details about the intermittent operations against Iran and the deadly strikes on vessels in Latin America that were allegedly used to smuggle drugs. Trump praised the performance on social media, and Vice President JD Vance called the impeachment attempt “ridiculous theater that substitutes for real policy.”

The new Congress convenes in January. But even if the House votes to impeach, Hegseth’s removal is unlikely: it would require the support of two-thirds of the Senate.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz