The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives on Tuesday moved to derail an impeachment effort against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, effectively shielding the embattled Pentagon chief from an immediate congressional showdown and giving him a reprieve before Democrats regain control of Congress next year.
The procedural move came hours after Hegseth dismissed the impeachment campaign as a farce, mounting a forceful defence of his tenure at the Pentagon that earned praise from President Donald Trump. Republicans voted to send eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee, a move that effectively stalls the proceedings.
The effort's sponsor, Republican Representative Thomas Massie, warned that the referral would effectively kill the impeachment bid. Massie, an outgoing Kentucky Republican, hoped to draw votes from Republicans upset with Hegseth's policies and wary of the unpopularity of the Iran war.
Democrats had voiced strong support for the impeachment effort, and they tried to help Massie clear the way for an impeachment vote. Hegseth would have been the first US defence secretary to be impeached.
The last time any civilian leader of the US military was impeached was in 1876, when William Belknap held the title "secretary of war." Hegseth calls himself secretary of war, part of his effort to rebrand a military he said was too weak and "woke" when he took office last year.
Trump cannot change the name of the Department of Defence without approval from Congress. Voter anger over the Iran war, which has settled into an effective stalemate focused on securing the Strait of Hormuz, helped Democrats win control of Congress in last week's midterm elections.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries aimed Hegseth ahead of the vote, saying on Monday: "Pete Hegseth has abused his power, undermined America's national security, and he's the architect of the reckless and costly failed war of choice in Iran." But Hegseth repeatedly defended the conflict, calling Trump courageous and saying Iran's military has been left in ruins.
He also said his orders to US forces were lawful, despite Massie's accusations of "high crimes and misdemeanours" ranging from the war itself to the US military raid in January to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. "History will judge the Iran war quite differently than the conventional wisdom right now," he said.
Trump repeated his backing of Hegseth in a post on his Truth Social platform just after the Pentagon briefing ended. "Pete Hegseth gets an 'A' PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defence against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!" he wrote.