The House voted 211-204 to defeat a resolution brought by Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican who has repeatedly clashed with Trump, preventing lawmakers from considering eight articles of impeachment accusing Hegseth of violating the Constitution, conducting unauthorized military operations, and abusing the powers of his office.
With a Democratic majority in the House, impeachment articles would stand a substantially greater chance of passage. Unlike a Senate conviction, which requires support of a two-thirds majority, impeachment in the House requires only a simple majority. Democrats could therefore approve articles without Republican support if enough of their members backed the effort.
The current impeachment effort was led by Massie, who lost his Republican primary this year to a candidate backed by Trump. Massie introduced the eight articles on Monday, arguing that Hegseth had repeatedly exceeded his legal authority in directing military operations and disregarded congressional restrictions on the use of force. “We’re not indicting him for being bad at his job,” Massie said Monday. “The argument here is that he’s broken laws and he’s violated the Constitution.”
Trump has stood firmly behind his defense secretary, even as the war has fueled public frustration and deepened divisions within his party. Asked whether he would continue supporting Hegseth if the House impeached him, the president replied, “Yeah I’ll stand by him.” In a social-media post Monday night, he urged lawmakers to defend Hegseth: “Congress, stand up for Pete!!!”
The eight articles introduced by Massie encompassed some of the administration's most controversial military decisions, from the war in Iran to its operations in Venezuela and strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific.
The charges invoked the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which limits the president's ability to conduct prolonged military operations without congressional approval. The Trump administration has maintained that the president possesses the constitutional authority as commander in chief to direct the campaign, a position that has brought the White House into conflict with lawmakers who argue that Congress has been unlawfully sidelined.
A separate charge accuses Hegseth of retaliating against Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and retired Navy captain, after Kelly participated in a video reminding service members that they were not obligated to follow illegal orders. Hegseth censured Kelly and initiated disciplinary proceedings that threatened his military rank and pension. A federal judge subsequently blocked the punishment, though the Justice Department has appealed.
Hegseth and his allies have portrayed the allegations as an attack on successful military operations. Speaking Monday, Hegseth suggested that seeking his removal over the Iran war, the strikes against suspected drug traffickers and the capture of Maduro amounted to “taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished.”
While some of the party’s base are pushing for a Trump impeachment, several senior Democrats have told TIME that targeting the defense secretary would offer Congress a more attainable means of challenging the administration's conduct of the war. "There are Republicans who would support impeaching Hegseth who might not support doing it to Trump," says Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, who is in line to chair the House Armed Services Committee.
Democrats have also not ruled out impeaching other members of Trump’s cabinet, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Impeachment of Pete Hegseth or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or anyone in the cabinet presents a completely different set of political considerations than the president,” says Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, an impeachment manager in Trump’s first term who is in line to chair the Judiciary Committee.
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