The U.S. House of Representatives have blocked an attempt to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over allegations that he authorized military operations against Iran without congressional approval.
Introduced by Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the impeachment resolution was effectively derailed on Tuesday when lawmakers voted to refer the measure to the House Judiciary Committee, as reported by the BBC on Wednesday.
In a 211 to 204 vote, all House Republicans—with the sole exception of Massie—voted to send the resolution to the Republican-controlled judiciary panel.
The articles of impeachment accused Hegseth of conducting unauthorized military actions against Iran for more than ninety days, alongside other allegations including overseeing extrajudicial killings during U.S. military interdictions targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean.
Representative Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth, asserting that the Defense Secretary had violated statutory law and should be removed from office.
However, the effort was widely viewed as improbable from the outset due to the Republican majority in the House and their continued alignment with President Donald Trump.
Reacting to the outcome on his Truth Social platform, Trump welcomed the defeat of the impeachment resolution, dismissing it as a failed attempt to unseat the Defense Secretary.
Trump also commended Hegseth, describing him as a patriot and highlighting what he characterized as the key successes of the administration’s military strategy.
Backstory…
The impeachment effort against US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth comes amid growing congressional criticism of the Trump administration’s military operations, particularly its handling of the war with Iran, which has continued for months without formal congressional authorisation.
The move particularly gained momentum following the democrats win in the recently concluded US midterm elections.
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