The Republican-led House on Tuesday narrowly rejected a push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over how he has carried out the war in Iran and other military hostilities in Yemen, Venezuela and the Caribbean.
The vote was 211-204 to send the impeachment resolution to committee, effectively killing the effort. Even vocal GOP critics of Hegseth said they didn’t think that the secretary’s action rose to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The impeachment resolution was authored by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a fierce critic of Hegseth and President Donald Trump; both helped oust Massie in his GOP primary race earlier this year. Because Massie had filed the motion as “privileged,” Republican leaders were forced to call a vote within two legislative days.
Yeah, massie comes off really bad here (tho there is some tremendous irony here considering that 11 Democrats missed the vote). As his effort to impeach Hegseth comes across less as a serious exercise in congressional oversight and more as the bitter political vendetta of a disgruntled congressman who appears unable to accept his own electoral defeat. Having lost his Republican primary in May, Massie seems intent on settling scores with President Trump and Hegseth, whom he apparently blames for his failed reelection bid. The eight articles of impeachment only reinforce that impression, particularly since most of the allegations involve military actions that fall under the president’s constitutional authority rather than Hegseth’s independent decision-making. In fact, Hegseth appears to have direct responsibility for only one of the eight charges, involving the administration’s dispute with Democrat Senator Mark Kelly. Rather than presenting a focused, credible case against the defense secretary, Massie seems to be using impeachment as a parting shot against an administration he resents, seemingly determined to inflict as much political damage as possible before leaving Congress in January.
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