House Republicans Block Hegseth Impeachment by 211-204 Margin, Sending Articles to Committee

House Republicans on Monday defeated an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, voting 211 to 204 to refer eight articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee rather than allow a floor vote, effectively killing the push until Democrats take control of Congress in January. Every Republican except the resolution's author, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted to block it, while all 203 Democrats who were present voted against referral. The near-party-line outcome was a surprising show of unity from a Republican conference that had suffered a bruising midterm defeat the week prior.

Massie's articles accused Hegseth of abusing his authority, including waging war against Iran without congressional authorization and failing to protect civilians during military operations in Iran, Yemen and Venezuela. Hegseth, who had not held a Pentagon press conference in six months, broke that silence on Monday to dismiss the effort as a "farce" and a "stunt" driven by "one disgruntled and defeated congressman," saying he stands behind "every one" of the operations conducted under his tenure. He also called on lawmakers to pass the Pentagon's record budget request. Trump and new White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller worked behind the scenes to defeat the impeachment push, signaling full support for Hegseth in private conversations with senior administration officials.

Vice President JD Vance defended Hegseth publicly, arguing the impeachment push was really about Hegseth's reorganization of the general officer corps and his repositioning of forces away from Europe and Ukraine, not the Iran war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Paris, said Hegseth had executed direct orders from President Trump. Massie warned the victory was temporary, saying there is a "high probability" Hegseth will not survive as Defense Secretary past December 31, citing the more aggressive investigations Democrats plan to launch when they take the House in January.

The outcome was closer than the final count suggests. Eleven Democrats missed the vote, and analysts noted that just seven of them showing up would have flipped the result to 215-211 in favor of proceeding. Several of the absent Democrats are among the largest recipients of campaign funding from the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, with Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, the highest AIPAC recipient in Congress at $15.9 million, among those absent.

Separately, the Justice Department unsealed a superseding indictment charging three men linked to the Iran-backed group Kata'ib Hezbollah with plotting a terrorist attack on RAF Fairford, a British airbase used by American B-1 bombers, in September 2026. Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, already held in a Brooklyn jail on separate terrorism charges, allegedly used coded phone calls to his mother and sister in Iraq to coordinate the plot and arrange payments. Operatives surveilled the base in August and on September 26 sent three vans disguised as commercial vehicles, including fuel delivery and pool service vans loaded with fuel barrels, chemical accelerants and metal objects, toward the base. At least two were stopped at a security checkpoint and suspects were arrested the following morning. The indictment also named Mohsen Mohajeri, described as an IRGC operative, and Mohammad Ali Al-Hassani, who allegedly directed the operation from Iran. Prosecutors said the plot was part of a wider Iranian-linked campaign involving nearly 20 attacks or attempted attacks against Jewish institutions, Israeli interests and other targets across Europe and the United States. Iran denied involvement.

In separate congressional leadership developments, Senate Republicans reelected John Thune of South Dakota as their majority leader, overcoming months of criticism from President Trump over his handling of the SAVE America Act. House Republicans elected Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as their minority leader to lead the party in opposition as Democrats prepare to take control of the lower chamber in January.