Washington, Nov 11 (IANS) The US House of Representatives has blocked an immediate vote to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, sending eight articles accusing him of misconduct over the Iran war and other military operations to a committee in a narrow 211-204 vote.
The procedural decision gave Hegseth a reprieve after Republican Congressman Thomas Massie forced the chamber to confront the allegations. It did not clear Hegseth of wrongdoing or settle any of the charges.
According to the House clerk, 210 Republicans and independent Kevin Kiley of California voted to refer the resolution to the Judiciary Committee. Massie was the only Republican to oppose the move, joining 203 Democrats.
Eighteen lawmakers did not vote, including 11 Democrats and seven Republicans. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among those absent. The motion passed by seven votes.
All six Indian-American House members — Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Suhas Subramanyam and Shri Thanedar — voted against referral, according to the official roll call. That meant each supported allowing the impeachment effort to proceed rather than sending it to committee.
Massie’s resolution accused Hegseth of continuing military operations against Iran without congressional authority. It also accused the Secretary of War of disregarding rules intended to protect civilians and ordering unlawful strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats. Other articles concerned actions involving Venezuela and Yemen and alleged retaliation against Senator Mark Kelly.
Massie brought the measure as a privileged resolution, forcing the House to take procedural action rather than leaving it indefinitely pending. Before the vote, he warned that referral to committee would effectively end the impeachment campaign for this Congress.
The allegations have not been adjudicated. Hegseth rejected them at a Pentagon briefing earlier Tuesday.
“None of these are high crimes or misdemeanours,” he said. “They’re partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicise our military.”
The Trump administration urged Congressmen to support referral.
A formal White House policy statement described the impeachment push as politically motivated and argued that the president had constitutional authority to order military operations.
Vice President J.D. Vance defended Hegseth, writing on X: “Has Pete Hegseth committed impeachable crimes? The question is absurd, and the answer is: obviously not.”
President Donald Trump celebrated the outcome on Truth Social, declaring the effort had “miserably FAILED!” and describing the vote as the “EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot.” But the House took no vote on the substance of the impeachment articles.
Massie expressed disappointment after the vote. “I wasn’t surprised, but I was disappointed,” he told reporters. He said he would next seek a vote on a war powers resolution concerning Iran.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries signalled that the matter could return. “This is not the end of it. It’s just the beginning,” he said.
Democratic Whip Katherine Clark accused Republicans of protecting Hegseth rather than American service personnel. Krishnamoorthi had urged wavering Republicans to break ranks, while Thanedar and Jayapal separately called for Hegseth’s impeachment.
The referral places the resolution before the Judiciary Committee, which is not required to act. With the current Congress ending on January 3, the move makes a substantive impeachment vote this session unlikely.
Democrats, who won control of both chambers in the November 3 midterms, could initiate a new effort when Congress convenes.
Under the US Constitution, impeachment requires a simple majority in the House. Conviction and removal require a two-thirds vote of senators present.
Two Cabinet secretaries have previously been impeached — William Belknap in 1876 and Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024 — but neither was removed by the Senate.
–IANS
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