Impeachment bid against Hegseth blocked in US House
The law requires our military to withdraw from hostilities within 60 days if Congress does not authorize the activity. Operation Epic Fury has been underway for 256 days. Massie had introduced a privileged resolution containing eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth, accusing him of violating the US Constitution and the War Powers Act by authorising military strikes against Iran and Yemen without congressional approval, as well as overseeing the operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Now they’re trying a third time—this time against a member of his cabinet,” Hegseth said. And if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I’ll take that company every day of the week,” he said. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had said in April 2024 that the charges did not meet “the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors” and warned that they could establish a dangerous precedent.
“IMPEACHMENT, Article III. Congress has not authorized it. “We’ve seen this show before. They impeached President Trump over a perfect phone call. They impeached him again in his final week in office. Both times they failed… “They will fail again. Mayorkas had argued that the border situation stemmed from Congress’s failure to update immigration laws amid increased global migration.
House Republican leaders and White House officials on Tuesday night blocked an effort to impeach US secretary of war Pete Hegseth, securing a procedural victory for President Donald Trump after a contentious push by Republican Representative Thomas Massie. Earlier on Tuesday, Massie outlined the legal basis for his impeachment bid, arguing that Hegseth had violated the War Powers framework by continuing military operations without authorisation from Congress.
Nearly 150 years earlier, the House had voted to impeach President Ulysses S.
He framed the effort as an indictment against the nation’s service members and their successes and said it was undermining American forces “in real time.” Before Mayorkas, no sitting Cabinet secretary had been impeached. Grant’s War Secretary, William Belknap, over a kickback scheme involving government contracts. But after President Donald Trump signaled strong support for Hegseth, GOP lawmakers largely stood by the secretary Tuesday. They rejected the impeachment effort led by Kentucky Republican Thomas and backed by Democrats.
Belknap resigned before the vote. Earlier reporting noted: The vote came as Republicans grapple with the fallout from sweeping midterm losses that some in the party have blamed on the war in Iran and the resulting surge in gas prices. Earlier reporting noted: Hegseth rebuked the effort Tuesday in his first news conference in months, portraying Massie as a rogue lawmaker and arguing he had committed none of the high crimes required in the Constitution for his removal.
Earlier reporting noted: Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday blocked an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war, handing President Donald Trump a victory days after his party’s crushing midterm election defeat.