House Republicans voted Tuesday evening to send proposed impeachment articles against War Secretary Pete Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee, effectively quashing an immediate effort to remove him from President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
The House approved the referral in a 211 to 204 vote. The move sidelined an impeachment effort introduced by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and likely postponed further action until January, when Democrats are set to control the chamber.
Massie accused Hegseth of negligence and illegal conduct connected to counternarcotics operations and extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Pacific. His articles also targeted the February attack on Iran, which occurred without congressional approval.
The Kentucky Republican additionally cited alleged retaliation against Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., following the veteran lawmaker’s statements to troops about illegal orders. Massie also challenged the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro without a declaration of war and cited other military operations.
“Secretary of War Peter Hegseth, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law,” the articles stated.
Sending the impeachment articles to the Judiciary Committee likely delays a House vote until January. As of Thursday, Democrats had won 256 House seats, compared with 168 for Republicans.
Democrats also had secured at least 54 Senate seats, while Republicans held 44. If the House votes to impeach Hegseth next year, a two thirds Senate majority on any article would be required to remove him from office.
Hegseth confronted the effort during a rare news conference Tuesday morning before the House vote. He called Massie a “disgruntled and defeated congressman” seeking to “do damage to this president, this country, and most irresponsibly, the warriors who defend it.”
Hegseth noted that Trump was impeached twice but never convicted by the Senate. The War Secretary said he would “take that company every day of the week.”
“These resolutions are a farce. They mock the Constitution. They attack the chain of command, and they criminalize the warfighters who execute lawful orders,” Hegseth said.
Trump has made clear that he intends to stand behind his War Secretary. The president said Monday that Hegseth has “done a very good job.”
Had the effort succeeded, Hegseth would have become the second U.S. War Secretary and the third cabinet member to be impeached. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached in 2024 over President Joe Biden’s immigration policies at the U.S. border with Mexico.
The Senate dismissed the charges against Mayorkas before a trial began. Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached in 1876 on corruption charges shortly after resigning, but the Senate later acquitted him.
The House fight unfolded amid scrutiny reflected in an October survey from Common Defense, a military and veterans advocacy nonprofit. Change Research conducted the survey of 731 active duty troops, veterans and military family members.
The survey found that 54% of active duty personnel disapproved of Hegseth, while 64% of military family members disapproved. A majority of those surveyed also believed decisions within the department were being made for political gain.
Among active duty respondents, 53% said politicization was making them want to leave the military sooner than they had anticipated. Nearly half of the active duty personnel surveyed also said they opposed Operation Epic Fury, the United States operation against Iran.
For now, the committee referral has stopped Massie’s impeachment bid from advancing to an immediate House decision. Hegseth, backed publicly by Trump, dismissed the articles as a political attack that targeted the chain of command and service members carrying out lawful orders.