A comfortable majority in the House of Representatives – 211 to 204 – rejected the motion to impeach Pete Hegseth and send it to the Senate.
Instead, the motion will be referred back to the Judiciary Committee, which means it has been shelved until the new Congress convenes on 3 January.
This marked a defeat for Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Hegseth held a press conference earlier on Tuesday.
With his parents and his brother seated in the audience among public affairs staffers and journalists in the Pentagon’s briefing room, Hegseth called Massie a “disgruntled and defeated congressman” and argued that his impeachment resolution “is not oversight, and it’s not accountability.”
“It’s a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” Hegseth said.
Arguing that the outgoing Kentucky congressman’s effort is due to his own “personal animus” for President Donald Trump and his administration, the secretary went on to call the resolution “a farce — and it’s a stunt, and everybody knows it.”
Massie reintroduced his resolution with eight impeachment articles on Monday. The allegations listed against Hegseth include violations of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, free speech suppression, extrajudicial killings, and the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader” — referring to Maduro.
According to Massie, Hegseth suppressed free speech when he “retaliate[d] against and intimidate[d] Senator Mark Kelly” for 2025 statements the Department of War claims were “seditious” in which Kelly encouraged service members to disobey lawful orders.
