Home Republicans kill Thomas Massie’s Pete Hegseth impeachment bid

Secretary of Conflict Pete Hegseth is secure from an impeachment vote within the Home of Representatives after GOP leaders efficiently stopped a looming vote led by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

A vote to refer Massie’s decision to the Home Judiciary Committee for consideration — which successfully killed it in its tracks — handed on Tuesday night by a 211 to 204 margin, averting a possible impeachment vote on Wednesday.

The GOP had been nervous about having a big variety of absences on their facet after their brutal midterm election efficiency final week, nevertheless it seems Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrangled yet another victory on his method out the management door.

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Massie’s decision is a wide-ranging piece of laws accusing Hegseth of misusing his workplace through eight impeachment articles, spanning points together with the Iran struggle, U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats within the Caribbean, and his retaliation in opposition to Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., over a video calling on troops to disobey “illegal orders.”

Hegseth railed in opposition to the trouble and criticized Massie personally throughout a press convention on Tuesday morning.

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“What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is making an attempt will not be oversight, and it is not accountability. It is a political spectacle, a private manifesto pushed by ego and resentment,” Hegseth stated.

The outgoing Kentucky Republican was capable of power Tuesday night time’s vote over the objections of Home GOP leaders by submitting a privileged decision, a mechanism aimed toward bypassing the desire of the chamber’s majority. A privileged decision have to be thought of inside two legislative days of being filed.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., speaks on impeaching U.S. Secretary of Conflict Pete Hegseth outdoors the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 9, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photographs)

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All Democrats current backed shifting ahead with the impeachment on Tuesday night, as anticipated. All Republicans however Massie voted to kill the decision.

However some had been nervous earlier within the day about weak attendance probably clearing the trail for an precise impeachment vote.

“I will vote no,” Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, informed Fox Information Digital. “I do not know if any Republicans aside from Massie can be in assist of his articles of impeachment, however, I do not even know what number of Republicans can be right here by the point of the vote. The true query is how brief are we. Numerically, in the event that they’re all right here and weren’t, what occurs then?”

Ellzey referred to as the impeachment effort “a ridiculous waste of time.”

Even Home Republicans who’re vital of Hegseth had been hesitant to assist Massie’s decision.

“I feel it is an effort to scapegoat Pete Hegseth for Congress shirking their very own responsibility and, frankly, the president taking motion that, for my part, is unconstitutional — nevertheless it’s additionally not unprecedented,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, who’s against the Trump administration’s involvement in Iran, stated.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, leaves the Home Republican Convention caucus assembly on the Capitol Hill Membership in Washington on Wednesday, Might 13, 2026. (Invoice Clark/CQ-Roll Name, Inc through Getty Photographs)

“What could be unprecedented is to carry the Secretary of Protection accountable for a choice the president makes. Or frankly, it might have been unprecedented for the Secretary of Protection to sort of break ranks on one thing that’s clearly not unprecedented when it comes to what has grow to be the usual working process for administrations going again to the Korean Conflict.”

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Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a vocal critic of Hegseth’s, informed reporters on Tuesday, “I am personally not a fan of the secretary. I do not assume he was the correct man within the job. But additionally once you learn Massie’s impeachment, I do not agree with it.”