House tables Hegseth impeachment, effectively killing it in current Congress
Hegseth framed the effort as being directed at U.S. service members.
The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to refer GOP Rep. Thomas Massie's resolution to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee by a 211-204 vote, effectively killing the measure for the remainder of the Republican-controlled 119th Congress.
Massie was the only Republican to vote against tabling the measure, along with all House Democrats.
In a news conference earlier Tuesday, Hegseth dismissed the impeachment effort as "political spectacle," framing Massie's resolution as an indictment against the troops.
The vote came after calls to impeach Hegseth grew as several Republicans attributed the GOP's sweeping midterm losses to the Iran war. Massie, who lost his primary earlier this year to a challenger backed by President Donald Trump, introduced the articles of impeachment against Hegseth on the House floor Monday afternoon.
During his news conference, Hegseth said, "What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it's not accountability. It's a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment."
Trump congratulated Hegseth in a post on his social media platform, saying Democrats "FAILED" to impeach Hegseth, though the effort was led by a Republican and the vote was a procedural one to refer the measure to the House Judiciary Committee, not on impeachment itself.
"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," he wrote. "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!
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declared "TOTAL VICTORY" in a post on X with an image of Hegseth with a clenched fist.
"The referral of these baseless impeachment articles to the House Judiciary Committee marks total victory for Secretary Hegseth, the Department of War, and the American warfighter," Parnell wrote. "From the beginning, this effort has been a political exercise devoid of merit, evidence, or seriousness. It collapses under the weight of Secretary Hegseth's record of restoring the warrior ethos, delivering results, and putting the mission first."
A defiant Hegseth said in his news conference that each of the military engagements mentioned as part of the impeachment effort -- including strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and the war with Iran -- were lawful actions directed by Trump. None of the operations were approved by Congress, which Massie pointed to in his articles of impeachment.
Hegseth framed the eight articles of impeachment as being directed at U.S. military service members.
Critiques of military operations have long been divorced from the valor and sacrifice of U.S. troops, going back to after the end of Vietnam War, including Hegseth's own longstanding critiques of the chaotic withdraw from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden.
Hegseth pointed out that no Defense secretary has ever been impeached "for carrying out lawful military operations, and in our case, successful ones at that."
Hegseth said that Massie wanted to undo his work over "policy disagreements," saying none of the articles -- which range from skirting congressional approval to wage war against Iran to the unprecedented boat strikes in the Caribbean and East Pacific seas -- bring up high crimes, misdemeanors or treason.
Johnson voiced opposition to Massie's impeachment articles and said he believed Republicans would "defeat" the impeachment effort.
"We'll dispense with the impeachment gambit," Johnson said Tuesday afternoon.
After the articles of impeachment were introduced on Monday, Trump said during a press briefing that Hegseth has "won the war in Iran." Hegseth similarly declared victory during an April press conference.
"He certainly, I think, he's won the war in Iran, but he's certainly winning the war," Trump said of Hegseth. "Iran would love to make a deal. And they've been obliterated, their navy and their air force."
Hegseth on Tuesday sought to align his potential impeachment to Trump's, effectively framing it as a sequel.
"You see, we've seen this show before," Hegseth said, later adding, "both times they failed" in impeaching Trump.
"Both times he came back stronger, and the American people sent him back to the White House," he added. "Now they're trying a third time. This time against a member of his Cabinet."
Trump in a post on his social media site said that Hegseth gets an "A plus, plus, plus for his defense against" Massie.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke in Paris shortly after Hegseth's Pentagon briefing, offered his own defense of Hegseth. He was asked about Hegseth's Department of Defense carrying out orders to take military action against Iran and against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, along with the strikes on alleged drug boats and the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
"Not only did Pete execute on a direct order from the commander-in-chief, who in our constitution is empowered and trusted with the job of keeping Americans safe, but they did it quite effectively in all those fronts," Rubio said.
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