Pete Hegseth has dodged impeachment — for now.
Republicans in the House of Representatives successfully blocked an effort to impeach the Secretary of Defense on Tuesday night, amid a controversial, chaotic run as one of Donald Trump’s most loyal Cabinet
members, highlighted by a disastrous, still-ongoing war of choice against Iran.
The House voted 211-204 to move the impeachment resolution to committee, where Republicans, who for the rest of the year control the chamber’s committees, can leave it to languish. Eleven Democrats missed the vote, potentially depriving the party of a huge win coming off of the midterm elections. The absent Democrats were: Reps. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Jonathan ackson (D-Ill.), Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.).
Seven Republicans also missed the vote.
Axios reported that several Democrats who missed the vote were unable to make it because they were attending an Elect Democratic Women event and got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on their way to the Capitol.
Hegseth would have been the second Secretary of Defense (or War) to be impeached and third Cabinet member in history to be impeached, after Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876 and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has been a thorn in the Trump administration’s side throughout his second term in office, brought articles of impeachment to Congress almost immediately after the midterm elections. Massie’s resolution included eight articles of impeachment, detailing crimes including violations of the War Powers Agreement of 1973, failing to minimize civilian casualties, and conducting extrajudicial killings.
“I hope Hegseth addresses the eight articles of impeachment,” Massie said on Monday afternoon, adding that he hopes Hegseth “doesn‘t get up and misquote the Bible in Quentin Tarantino fashion and do some pull-ups and call everybody fat and gay,” referencing a widely mocked speech Hegseth gave at the Pentagon earlier this, and Hegseth’s obsession with masculinity.
On Tuesday morning, Hegseth called a press conference to respond to Massie’s impeachment inquiry. “This is not about me,” Hegseth said, claiming impeachment proponents were really targeting America’s “warriors.”
Hegseth and Trump celebrated Republicans blocking the vote. “The Democrats’ attempt to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has miserably FAILED! Every single Republican, except Thomas Massie, a major LOSER, voted in favor of Pete,” the president wrote in a post shared by Hegseth. “Again, Victories in Venezuela and Iran, the Best Recruitment Numbers in the History of the Military (Long waiting lists to get in!), and Spirit like rarely seen before, led to the EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot. The Democrats continue to weaponize and abuse the United States of America. They must be stopped!”
The Department of Defense, meanwhile, posted an AI-generated image of Massie in tears.
Under Trump, Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Minnesota National Guard infantry officer, redubbed the Department of Defense the “Department of War,” spearheading a comprehensive overhaul of the leviathan U.S. military apparatus in order to make it more masculine, less woke, and more “lethal.” This endeavor included sweeping staff changes, policy adjustments and the creation of several new taxpayer-funded programs. Hegseth proclaimed that his Department of War would be an “AI-first military,” and instituted new rules for physical fitness and grooming among his troops.
“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department,” Hegseth said at a “State of the Force” speech last month. “No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors. Just tough, ready, committed troops.”
In February, Hegseth became the standard-bearer for Trump’s war on Iran, which has largely caused the economic crisis that eroded Trump’s hold over the party and washed out Republicans in the 2026 midterms. Throughout the war, however, Hegseth has been steadfast in his commitment. He also presided over Trump’s lightning-fast invasion of Venezuela, which resulted in the capture and imprisonment of President Nicolas Maduro. Massie’s articles of impeachment also specifically referenced Hegseth’s actions in combatting so-called cartels in Latin America, including the policy of airstrikes on civilian boats in international waters, which have killed dozens if not hundreds of people since Trump took office.
A further charge alleged that Hegseth suppressed Senator Mark Kelly’s First Amendment rights when he “sought to intimidate” Kelly after the senator urged U.S. servicemembers to disobey unlawful orders. Hegseth threatened to recall Kelly from active duty and issued a letter of censure over Kelly’s comments, which Massie argues were protected both by Kelly’s role as a senator and by the First Amendment.
The rift between Massie and Trump began over the botched, partial release of the Epstein files, which Massie correctly recognized as a growing political risk. Massie was unsparing in his critiques of Trump over his associations with notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, which eventually led Trump to endorse his rival in the 2026 primary for his congressional seat in Kentucky.
As the face of Trump’s war in Iran, it’s clear that many Republican lawmakers are eager to put Hegseth’s head on a spike. “It’s my expectation that there will be Republican members of Congress who will join in the effort to try to pass the resolution,” presumptive next Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday, of Hegseth’s impeachment.
Several Republican senators, including Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, have already indicated that they may be sympathetic to at least holding a trial for Hegseth, if not convicting him outright.
“If there is deception coming from our Pentagon and being transmitted to the president, I would want to know that,” Republican Senator Joni Ernst told reporters on Tuesday. “Now, will that be part of this impeachment? I don’t know. But I have some serious questions.”
Republicans in the House, however, are standing by the face of the Iran war. It may not matter come 2027 when Democrats will enjoy a sizable majority in the chamber.
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