The House voted 211 to 204 on Tuesday night, November 10, to refer eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee, effectively shelving the effort for this Congress. The vote was procedural. It did not clear Hegseth of the charges and it did not rule on their merits. It sent the resolution to committee, where it can sit without a vote.
Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, introduced the eight articles on Monday. He was the only Republican to vote against sending them to committee. Every Democrat who voted opposed the referral. Eleven Democrats and seven Republicans did not vote. The margin was seven votes.
The eight articles accuse Hegseth of high crimes and misdemeanors. They allege that he waged war against Iran without an imminent threat or congressional approval, ordered extrajudicial killings of suspected militants, and ignored laws meant to protect civilians in conflict zones. These are allegations. They have not been proven, and the House vote did not test them.
Hegseth denies wrongdoing and calls the charges policy disagreements. President Donald Trump pledged to stand by him and called the outcome an exoneration on Truth Social, writing that the effort had miserably failed. Speaker Mike Johnson called the push a stunt. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he is a hard yes on the resolution.
The resolution expires on January 3, 2027 if it gets no vote on its merits. Democrats won both chambers in the November 3 elections and could revive proceedings when the new Congress convenes on January 3, 2027. Only two cabinet officials have ever been impeached by the House, and the Senate convicted neither. For now, the impeachment effort is parked, but the underlying dispute over Hegseth and the Iran strikes is not settled.
Full story: https://zarknews.com/house-blocks-hegseth-impeachment-211-204/
Sources: U.S. House of Representatives; Zark News. File photo: The U.S. Capitol at dusk, 2013. Photo: Martin Falbisoner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Video: Zark News.
