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Republicans in the US House of Representatives voted 211 to 204 on Tuesday to derail an immediate impeachment vote against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war.
The narrow Republican majority handed President Donald Trump a crucial political victory just days after voters delivered a sweeping defeat to his party in the midterm elections by routing the resolution to the Judiciary Committee.
Eleven Democrats missed the procedural vote, which effectively stalls formal charges until Democrats assume control of both congressional chambers in January.
Representative Thomas Massie, an outgoing Republican and vocal Trump critic, introduced the eight articles of impeachment.
Massie accused Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution by waging unauthorised war in Iran, conducting extrajudicial killings against alleged drug smugglers, and attempting to suppress free speech by punishing a Democratic senator.
Massie stood as the sole Republican to oppose his party’s manoeuvre to block the full House vote.
Pentagon officials and administration leaders quickly praised the legislative manoeuvre, with a Pentagon spokesperson labelling the outcome a complete victory and predicting the committee process would put the distraction to rest.
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Hegseth forcefully rejected the charges at a Pentagon press conference, calling the impeachment effort a slanderous farce and insisting he would proudly execute the military operations again.
President Trump and Vice President JD Vance voiced strong support for Hegseth, dismissing the allegations as entirely unfounded.
After the vote, President Trump praised the outcome on Truth Social, calling the procedural defeat an “EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot” and previously giving Hegseth an “A PLUS, PLUS, PLUS” grade for his leadership.
