Massie was the only Republican who backed the eight articles
The House voted 211 to 204 on Tuesday evening to refer Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment articles to the Judiciary Committee, blocking Rep. Thomas Massie’s effort to punish the Pentagon chief for now, according to The Wall Street Journal. Massie, a Kentucky Republican, was the only Republican to side with Democrats in the vote, which came after Republican lawmakers helped defeat the effort to remove Hegseth for his actions as President Trump’s Pentagon chief. House Democrats are expected to revive the effort when they take control of Congress in January.
The vote did not impeach Hegseth, and it did not send him to the Senate. It returned Massie’s eight articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee for consideration. Massie said he wanted the House to have a chance to vote on each of the eight articles, giving members the opportunity to reject some of the proposals while agreeing to others. Under the Constitution, a simple majority vote in the House is required to impeach; had the House impeached Hegseth, he would not have been removed immediately, and the matter instead would have gone to the Senate, where a trial would be held and a two-thirds majority would be required to convict and remove him from office.
Hegseth mounted a vigorous defense of his record at a rare news conference hours before the vote, calling Massie a “disgruntled and defeated congressman” and describing the articles as framed as policy disagreements and nothing more. “That’s what it is: policy disagreements, not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote impeachment laws,” Hegseth said.
President Trump said in a social-media post that the vote exonerated Hegseth. “The Democrats continue to weaponize and abuse the United States of America. They must be stopped!” Trump added. Trump said he would “stand by” Hegseth if the defense secretary were impeached and praised his press conference, writing on social media Tuesday immediately following the Pentagon briefing that “Pete Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense.” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the vote meant “total victory” for Hegseth and troops.
The articles allege that the U.S. war on Iran, without a formal declaration of war or congressional approval, is illegal. Massie accused Hegseth of dismantling a system intended to minimize civilian casualties, noting the Minab school bombing in Iran this year, which killed more than 150 people, including dozens of children.
The articles further allege that Hegseth’s use of lethal military force against suspected drug-smuggling boats is illegal, and that he abused the Pentagon’s powers by trying to punish Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), a retired Navy captain, for urging troops to disobey unlawful orders. The articles call out the military’s capture and kidnap of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, which it carried out at Trump’s direction. Massie called the mission an act of war against a sovereign country.
Democrats have united behind the impeachment effort. “We need to impeach Hegseth. If there is one message in this entire election, it’s that people didn’t want the war in Iran. He needs to go,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) said.
Many GOP lawmakers defended Hegseth, saying he shouldn’t be blamed for setbacks in the Iran war. “I don’t agree that Pete Hegseth should be impeached. And at the end of the day, I think trying to make Pete Hegseth the scapegoat really blame shifts and avoids responsibility for Congress and, frankly, President Trump,” Rep. Warren Davidson (R., Ohio) said. Some said they were troubled by aspects of Hegseth’s leadership of the Pentagon but indicated they weren’t on board with voting to impeach him. “I personally am not a fan” of Hegseth, said Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.), who is retiring. “But also when you read Massie’s impeachment, I don’t agree with it.”
In the Senate, retiring Republicans have become increasingly vocal with their concerns over Hegseth. Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) has said Hegseth has to go and that he would support impeachment, calling it a vote of no confidence. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), who lost his re-election bid, said he would be open to a trial.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she is worried about Hegseth’s leadership role at the Pentagon. “I have concerns about the way the department has been run, and I question whether the information that is coming through the secretary out of the Pentagon has been accurate in the way he is portraying the war to the president,” Ernst said. “If there is deception coming from our Pentagon and being transmitted to the president, I would want to know that.” Other Republican senators said they would prefer to avoid a trial. Sen. Jim Justice (R., W.Va.) said, “Surely, to God above, we don’t need that right now, and that’s all there is to it.”
Both parties have sought impeachments in recent years. Democrats twice impeached President Trump over actions in his first term, and he was acquitted in the Senate. The GOP-led House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024, and the Democratic-led Senate rejected those charges.
The referral leaves the eight articles in committee and Hegseth in office. Democrats are expected to return to the effort in January with control of Congress. Sen. Thom Tillis has said he would support impeachment, and Sen. Bill Cassidy has said he would be open to a trial.