House Republicans block effort to impeach Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth
House Republicans on Tuesday blocked an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, rejecting allegations that he repeatedly violated the constitution through his handling of the Iran war and other conflicts globally.
The vote came a week after Republicans lost control of the Senate and House of Representatives in their worst midterm election in more than a half century, and underscored how lawmakers remain wary of crossing Donald Trump, who has signaled his continued support for Hegseth.
Impeachment effort defeated
Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman who lost his primary after breaking with the president, had proposed impeaching Hegseth in September, alleging an array of illegal acts, including killing civilians in Iran, launching unauthorized operations in Venezuela and Yemen, and retaliating against a Democratic senator.
Top Democrats announced their support for the resolution, but Republicans moved to kill it by referring it to the judiciary committee. Their motion succeeded on Tuesday, by a 211-204 vote, largely along party lines. Massie was the sole Republican to oppose the motion, along with all Democrats.
The referral of these baseless impeachment articles to the House judiciary committee marks total victory for Secretary Hegseth, the Department of War, and the American warfighter.
Trump's reaction
Trump, who was twice impeached, celebrated what he hailed as the "EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot" and lashed out at Massie for forcing the vote.
The defense secretary, a former Fox News host and army national guard officer, has been one of the most pugnacious members of Trump's second term cabinet, and taken an unusually heavy handed approach to managing the US military.
Hegseth's controversial tenure
Hegseth has orchestrated the departure of top generals, blocked the promotions of scores of officers, many of them women and people of color, and implemented new rules that prompted much of the press corps to leave the Pentagon.
He has also become the public face of some of the administration's most politically costly policies, particularly the Iran war, which has dragged on for months while putting upward pressure on petroleum prices and played into Democrats's hands in last week's midterms.
It's a farce, and it's a stunt, and everybody knows it.
Specific allegations
Massie's resolution outlined eight alleged violations of the constitution by Hegseth, including attacking Iran without first seeking Congress's permission, and spurning a war powers resolution the House and Senate approved in June that would require an end to the conflict.
It also accused Hegseth of "ignoring" laws that would have minimized civilian casualties, and specifically cites a US strike on a school in Minab, Iran, that killed more than 168 people. Other articles allege Hegseth violated the constitution with the "extrajudicial killings" of at least 221 people on boats suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean sea and eastern Pacific ocean.
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