House Republicans Block Hegseth Impeachment and Elect Jim Jordan as New Minority Leader

House Republicans on Tuesday handed President Donald Trump a narrow political victory by blocking an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, days after the party suffered a sweeping midterm defeat. The procedural vote to refer the impeachment resolution back to committee passed 211-204, with Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the resolution's Republican sponsor, casting the only GOP vote against the motion. Massie had argued that Hegseth's conduct over the Iran war and his controversial stewardship of the Pentagon warranted removal, and Democrats are expected to revive the effort when they retake House and Senate majorities in January.

The outcome gave Trump a moment of relief following last week's midterm results, in which voter anger over the sputtering Iran war and soaring fuel prices drove a historic rejection of Republicans. Trump celebrated the vote on Truth Social and called Massie a "major loser." However, the reprieve is likely temporary, as Democrats are all but guaranteed to force a new impeachment push once they hold the majority.

Separately, House Republicans elected Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as their new minority leader, succeeding Speaker Mike Johnson, who announced he would step down from leadership after the losses. Jordan, a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and a close Trump ally, defeated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in the leadership vote. Lawmakers are also moving to tighten semiconductor export controls in the wake of the Nvidia scandal, and allies have expressed concern over Washington's shifting stance on European security commitments.

On the diplomatic front, Russia and Ukraine resumed a second day of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi. Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said the conflict in Ukraine had revealed serious flaws in Europe's security system.