Republicans in the US House of Representatives banded together on Tuesday to derail an effort to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, voting 211 to 204 to send the charges to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee rather than deciding them on the floor.
The motion to refer the resolution, offered by California Republican Darrell Issa shortly after 5.30pm Eastern, was approved at 6.02pm in roll-call vote 317. It effectively shelves the impeachment push for the remainder of this Congress, without the House ever debating the eight articles or voting on whether Hegseth should be removed.
Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, who sponsored the resolution, was the only Republican to vote against referral. All 210 other Republicans who voted backed the motion, joined by the chamber’s one independent, while 203 Democrats voted against it. Eighteen members did not vote.
Massie’s resolution, H.Res. 1655, runs to 34 pages and contains eight articles of impeachment. Three accuse Hegseth of waging war against Iran without congressional approval, in breach of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. The others accuse him of ignoring laws meant to minimise civilian casualties, overseeing lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, retaliating against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, and acting unlawfully in Venezuela and Yemen, including the operation that captured Nicolás Maduro.
The articles are allegations, not findings. No court or inspector general has ruled on them, and Hegseth has not been charged with any crime.
Hegseth had earlier denounced the effort as a farce and defended his record at a Pentagon briefing, winning praise from President Donald Trump. The vote gives him a reprieve, not a verdict: the articles now sit with the Judiciary Committee, which has announced no timetable for considering them, and the resolution will expire when the 119th Congress ends on 3 January unless the House acts first.
Democrats have said they will take the matter up again when they take control of the House in January, after winning the midterm elections. The outcome also leaves open a wider fight over war powers, with Massie and his critics divided over whether Congress should restrain a president’s ability to keep US forces in hostilities without its approval.
Sources: Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-votes-derail-impeachment-defense-secretary-hegseth-2026-11-10/ ; The Hindu BusinessLine (Reuters) — https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/world/us-house-republicans-block-effort-to-impeach-defence-secretary-pete-hegseth/article71687543.ece ; House Clerk roll-call vote 317, 10 November 2026.
