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Washington: The US House of Representatives has blocked an attempt to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over allegations that he waged war on Iran without congressional authorisation.
A majority of lawmakers voted on Tuesday to refer the impeachment articles to the House Judiciary Committee, effectively stalling the move initiated by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
The resolution was defeated by 211 votes to 204, with all Republicans except Massie supporting the referral to the Republican-led committee.
The decision effectively ends the impeachment effort for the current congressional session, which has only a limited time remaining.
Hegseth dismissed the move as a political “farce” and “sabotage” during his first Pentagon news briefing in six months.
The impeachment initiative had been widely viewed as unlikely to succeed, as it would have required several Republicans to break ranks with President Donald Trump and support removing a member of his Cabinet.
However, the political calculation could change in January, when Democrats are set to take control of both chambers of Congress following their victories in the midterm elections. Trump’s Republican Party remains in control for now.
After Tuesday’s vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “This is not the end of it. It’s just the beginning.”
Lawmakers were asked to decide whether the impeachment resolution should be referred to the House Judiciary Committee or allowed to proceed for consideration by the full House.
More than a dozen lawmakers missed the vote, including 11 Democrats. Several blamed traffic problems for their absence.
Their failure to attend drew criticism from within their own party. Democratic Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan told CNN that lawmakers had a responsibility to participate in the vote.
“You should show up and do your job,” he said, addressing those who missed the ballot.
El-Sayed recently won a Senate race in Michigan after campaigning on criticism of US ties with Israel and its war with Iran.
Meanwhile, Trump celebrated the outcome in a post on Truth Social, declaring that the impeachment effort had “miserably FAILED”.
He praised Hegseth as a “Great American Patriot” and cited what he described as victories in Venezuela and Iran, record military recruitment figures and high morale within the armed forces.
Massie said he was disappointed but not surprised by the outcome, according to CBS, the BBC’s US media partner.
“My diagnosis of Congress is these people know what to do,” he said. “They just can’t bring themselves to do it, even when it would benefit them politically.”
The Kentucky congressman had earlier acknowledged that his impeachment initiative might not succeed immediately. However, he argued that the move could pressure Trump to replace Hegseth before Democrats launch their own impeachment proceedings.
Massie also said removing Hegseth while Republicans still controlled the Senate would give the chamber an opportunity to confirm a replacement before Democrats assumed control of Congress.
Impeachment resolutions can carry over beyond the end of a congressional term, allowing Democrats to pursue the matter when they take control in January.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had predicted earlier on Tuesday that the impeachment effort would fail.
In eight articles of impeachment formally introduced on Monday, Massie accused Hegseth of breaking the law by overseeing military operations against Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorisation.
The articles also accused the defence secretary of overseeing “extrajudicial killings” during US military operations targeting boats suspected of carrying drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
At Tuesday’s news conference, Hegseth described the impeachment effort as a political stunt by a Trump administration opponent whom he called “disgruntled and defeated”.
He also argued that the resolution posed a threat to national security by sending a message to US adversaries that Washington could punish its own military personnel and civilian leaders for conducting what he described as lawful military operations.
“This is not patriotism. This is sabotage,” he said.
Hegseth echoed Trump’s recent remarks, including claims of rising military recruitment figures, while arguing that Massie’s accusations were rooted in policy disagreements rather than impeachable offences.
“Not high crimes, not misdemeanours, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offences the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause,” he said.
Massie, who lost his re-election bid earlier this year to a Trump-backed challenger, has repeatedly criticised the president and the war in Iran since it began in February.
He had also angered Trump by demanding the release of government files related to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Although Hegseth has survived the impeachment challenge for now, questions remain over his political future, with several lawmakers, including Republicans, expressing doubts about how long he can remain in the administration.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said on Tuesday that he expected Hegseth either to resign or be dismissed by Trump. Source: BBC News