The Republican-controlled House voted to sideline an impeachment resolution against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday.
The chamber voted 210-204 in favor of shelving it. Outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who introduced the resolution, was the only Republican to vote against sending it back to committee, which effectively kills it.
The resolution holds that Mr. Hegseth waged an unlawful war against Iran, ignored laws designed to “minimize civilian casualties,” and unlawfully killed suspected drug traffickers.
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It also states that Mr. Hegseth suppressed the free speech of Sen. Mark Kelly, Arizona Democrat; illegally kidnapped the leader of Venezuela, and waged an unlawful war in Yemen.
Despite the action, the impeachment threat will likely follow Mr. Hegseth.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, backs impeaching Mr. Hegseth, and will have ample votes to do so once the new Congress is sworn in January.
“I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution. The so-called secretary of defense has abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe,” he said on ABC.
Most House Democratic candidates also expressed support on the campaign trail for impeaching Mr. Hegseth.
Ultimately, a two-thirds vote in the Senate is required to convict in an impeachment trial — an exceedingly unlikely outcome in the current Congress.
Mr. Hegseth decried the resolution at a press conference, saying it sends a message to enemies that “the United States will actually punish its own warfighters and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations.”
Acknowledging the low popularity of the Iran war, Mr. Hegseth said, “History will judge the Iran war quite differently than conventional wisdom right now.”
Ahead of the vote, President Trump stood by his defense secretary.
“Pete Hegseth gets an ’A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!” he said in a social media post.
Mr. Massie lost to Ed Gallrein, a Trump-backed challenger, in the most expensive U.S. House primary in history. Mr. Hegseth travelled to Kentucky and personally campaigned in favor of Mr. Gallrein.
Rep. Don Bacon, Nebraska Republican, said before the vote that he had criticisms of Mr. Hegseth for “firing 80 generals and not spending appropriated money,” but disagreed with the resolution expressing opposition to the Iran war.
“I want us to win in Iran. Iran’s been killing us for 47 years, so I have a different perspective than Massie on this,” he said.
“It’s a waste of time,” said Rep. Marlin Stutzman, Indiana Republican. “Hegseth answers to the commander-in-chief, and I support him, and I think he’s executed so many of these missions very well.”
Mr. Massie’s impeachment push derailed the GOP legislative agenda before the midterms, as leadership chose to prematurely end Congress’ work in early October rather than vote on it.
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