USAupdated 17m ago3 min read
Archive photo · 27 January 2025US House Votes 211-204 To Refer Hegseth Impeachment Articles, Shelving Effort For Now
“It’s a farce and it’s a stunt and everybody knows it,”
“The Democrats’ attempt to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has miserably FAILED!”
Photo: U.S. Department of Defense / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
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House voted 211-204 to refer eight impeachment articles against Hegseth to Judiciary Committee. Shelved for now with potential revival when Democrats assume control in January.
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House sends impeachment to committee
The US House of Representatives voted 211-204 to refer eight articles of impeachment against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, effectively shelving the effort for now. Pete Hegseth told reporters in his first news briefing from the Pentagon in six months that the impeachment push was a "farce" and "sabotage". Thomas Massie, the dissident Republican congressman from Kentucky, voted against moving the resolution to the House Judiciary Committee, and the BBC reported that he was "disappointed" after the vote.
President Donald Trump celebrated the procedural outcome in a Truth Social post saying the effort "has miserably FAILED" and describing Hegseth as a "Great American Patriot". The House action left the impeachment process dependent on what Democrats do after they take control of Congress in January, with the BBC saying the move effectively kills the effort as there is only a short period of time left in this Congress.
Hegseth and Massie trade blows
Pete Hegseth framed the impeachment attempt as an attack on service members and said it endangered national security by telling US adversaries "that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership". Hegseth also called Massie motivated by policy differences and said it was "not high crimes, not misdemeanours, not treason, not bribery". Massie said he "wasn't surprised" but "was disappointed", and he argued that Congress knows what to do but "can't bring themselves to do it".
House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted earlier in the day that the impeachment bid would fail, and the BBC said Massie had argued the push could help push Trump to replace Hegseth before Democrats can launch their own impeachment process. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said on Monday that "Pete Hegseth has abused his power, undermined America’s national security" and was "the architect of the reckless and costly failed war of choice in Iran".
What comes next for impeachment
The House vote to refer the impeachment articles to committee effectively delayed a full House impeachment vote until the next Congress, with the BBC saying Democrats take control in January and the move "effectively kills the effort" in the current term. The Guardian described the impeachment process as requiring a simple majority in the House to impeach and a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict and remove, and it said impeachment resolutions do not expire or die at the end of a congressional session. The Boston Globe said the procedural vote halted the effort to remove Hegseth for his conduct in office and his handling of the war in Iran, and it said the vote may only delay an impeachment push with Democrats set to take control of the House and Senate in January.
The Guardian said Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment on Monday concerning the US war on Iran and other military actions, and it said Hegseth dismissed the push as a "political spectacle" and a "stunt". The NBC News report said Hegseth vowed to fight potential charges while defending his management of the war with Iran, and it quoted him saying "It’s a farce and it’s a stunt and everybody knows it".