A bid to impeach U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been blocked for now, but Democrats are preparing to revive the fight when they take control of the House in January. Here are the eight charges against him, how impeachment works and what could happen next.
The U.S. House of Representatives has effectively blocked an attempt to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, voting 211–204 on Tuesday to send eight articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee rather than put them to a full House vote.
The move temporarily halts an effort led by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, who accuses Hegseth of “high crimes and misdemeanours” over the war in Iran and a series of other military operations.
But Democrats have vowed to revive the case. “This is not the end of it. It’s just the beginning,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Democrats are set to take control of both chambers of Congress in January.
Massie presented his 34-page resolution to the House on Monday, the first sitting day following the midterm elections, according to PBS NewsHour.
He accused Hegseth of having “knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders” and warned that he “remains a threat to the Constitution”.
The latest move followed an earlier attempt in September, when Massie filed a similar resolution as “privileged”, requiring the House to act within two legislative days, NBC reported.
Republican leaders subsequently cancelled votes and left Washington early, delaying consideration until after the election. They denied any connection between the timing and the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the effort as “a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention”.
When lawmakers returned, the House voted to refer the articles to the Judiciary Committee. According to CBS News, Massie was the only Republican to join Democrats in opposing the move. Seven Republicans and 11 Democrats were absent.
ABC News reported that several absent Democrats cited traffic around the Capitol. If all 11 had voted against the referral, it would have been defeated 215–211.
“I wasn’t surprised, but I was disappointed,” Massie said.
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to impeach and remove federal officials, including Cabinet secretaries.
The House has “the sole Power of Impeachment”, while the Senate has “the sole Power to try all Impeachments”.
These powers apply to the president, vice president and “all civil officers of the United States”, including Cabinet members.
Impeachment involves two main stages:
The two-thirds requirement makes removal particularly difficult, as conviction generally requires significant bipartisan support.
Massie's resolution sets out eight allegations involving military operations, congressional authority and the treatment of a U.S. senator.
According to CBS News, the articles include the following accusations:
Whether the accusations meet the constitutional threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanours” remains fiercely contested.
Hegseth has rejected the allegations, describing them as “policy disagreements, not high crimes, not misdemeanours”, Fox News reported.
“I stand behind every one of these operations,” he said.
Vice President JD Vance also dismissed the accusations, calling the suggestion that Hegseth had committed impeachable crimes “absurd”.
Constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley questioned the legal basis of most of the charges.
Speaking to Fox News, Turley said “six of the eight articles should be nonstarters, including the Iranian articles”.
He argued that Massie was attempting to use impeachment to resolve a longstanding dispute over presidential war powers, pointing out that former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden had also asserted broad authority to launch military operations.
However, Turley acknowledged potentially more serious legal questions surrounding the maritime strikes and Hegseth's treatment of Kelly.
Referring to allegations of a second strike on a previously targeted vessel, he said an alleged “double tap” strike order “would be a war crime, if true”, although he stressed that he would need to examine the evidence.
Trump and Hegseth have both denied issuing such an order.
Supporters of impeachment, meanwhile, argue that an official does not need to be convicted of a criminal offence to meet the constitutional standard. They maintain that knowingly violating the law or abusing public office can be sufficient grounds for removal.
Massie insisted that Hegseth had committed impeachable acts “eight times”.
Only two Cabinet secretaries have been impeached in U.S. history, and neither was convicted by the Senate.
The first was William Belknap, President Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of War, who was unanimously impeached by the House in 1876.
He was accused of “criminally disregarding his duty as Secretary of War and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain”, according to the U.S. Senate's historical records.
The case involved allegations that Belknap received $24,450 in kickbacks linked to a military trading post at Fort Sill, according to TIME.
Belknap resigned just hours before the House voted, but the Senate proceeded with his trial.
Senators voted 37–29 to affirm their authority to try a former official, according to an analysis by Thomas Berry of the Cato Institute.
Although a majority supported conviction on all five articles, none secured the required two-thirds majority, resulting in his acquittal.
Nearly 150 years later, in 2024, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas became the second Cabinet member to be impeached.
The Republican-led House accused him of misconduct over his handling of the U.S. border. However, the Democratic-controlled Senate dismissed both articles as unconstitutional without holding a full trial.
For now, the impeachment effort faces a political dead end.
Referring the articles to the Judiciary Committee makes further action unlikely before the Republican-led House's term ends.
But that could change in January, when Democrats take control of the House and gain the power to bring fresh impeachment articles to a vote.
Even if they secure enough votes to impeach Hegseth, removing him from office would require a two-thirds majority in the Senate.
No U.S. Cabinet secretary has ever been convicted by the Senate following impeachment, leaving Hegseth's potential removal facing a formidable constitutional and political hurdle.
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