Effort to Impeach U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Fails

Washington: An effort to impeach U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has failed in the House of Representatives, as Republican lawmakers voted against an impeachment-related resolution, providing the Pentagon chief with temporary relief. However, Democrats could launch another impeachment bid against him after taking control of Congress next year. On Tuesday, a procedural resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives received 211 votes in favour and 204 against. The resolution proposed referring eight articles of impeachment to the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee.

Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, who introduced the impeachment motion, had warned that referring the matter to the committee was effectively an attempt to kill the impeachment effort. Massie had hoped that other Republicans dissatisfied with Hegseth's policies, particularly amid growing unpopularity over the war against Iran, would support him. However, no other Republican lawmaker backed his initiative. Meanwhile, 11 Democrats who supported impeachment, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, did not participate in the vote. President Donald Trump welcomed the outcome, writing on social media that the effort to impeach Hegseth had failed miserably. Praising the defense secretary's performance on various issues, including Iran and Venezuela, Trump described him as a great American patriot.

Public opposition to the war with Iran was a major factor behind the Democrats' victory in last week's midterm elections. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, a majority of Americans want the Democratic-led Congress, which takes office in January, to take steps to bring the war with Iran to an end. U.S. Vice President JD Vance also voiced support for Hegseth, arguing that the issue was not about Iran but rather his efforts to challenge the Pentagon bureaucracy. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Hegseth of abusing his authority, undermining national security and being responsible for an expensive and unsuccessful war against Iran. Hegseth rejected the allegations, insisting that U.S. military operations were lawful. He also said that history would judge the war against Iran differently from the prevailing public opinion at present. Expressing disappointment over the voting outcome, Thomas Massie compared Republican lawmakers to passengers aboard the Titanic who, despite watching the ship sink, had decided to remain on board.