The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to block an impeachment resolution against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, effectively halting the effort to remove the Pentagon chief over unauthorized wars and alleged extrajudicial killings.
The resolution was introduced by Republican Representative Thomas Massie, the only member of his party to back it. It accused Hegseth of violating the Constitution, ordering military strikes against Iran, Venezuela and Yemen without congressional authorization, and directing the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Massie’s document grouped eight charges against the Defense Secretary. The first three focus on combat operations carried out inside Iranian territory without the approval of Congress. A fifth charge holds Hegseth responsible for the deaths of at least 243 people in attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, which the resolution describes as extrajudicial executions.
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Those killings targeted people suspected of drug trafficking. They were carried out, the resolution states, with total disregard for the right to life and without evidence that the dead were transporting illicit substances or posed any threat to U.S. national security.
The seventh charge centers on a military operation launched on January 3 in Caracas. Code-named Absolute Resolve, it involved ground forces, naval support and more than 150 aircraft and drones, with the stated objective of seizing constitutional Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the First Combatant Cilia Flores.
The official toll recorded in the documents stands at 83 dead among Venezuelans and Cubans, including civilians, as well as seven U.S. casualties. The resolution also carries accusations of abuse of power and intimidation of critics of the administration.
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Una publicación compartida de teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
What Comes Next
The Democrat bloc firmly supported the impeachment effort. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer both argued that Hegseth abused his power and undermined national security. Republicans, by contrast, closed ranks.
Despite the political wear caused by the war in Iran and the resulting rise in fuel prices, the party’s lawmakers overwhelmingly backed the Defense Secretary after receiving explicit support from President Donald Trump.
Hegseth held his first press conference in months earlier on Tuesday and rejected the accusations. He called the motion a “political spectacle” and defended the legality of U.S. military action against other nations.
“If we want to debate the military actions carried out by the Trump Administration, I will be delighted to do so all day,” he said.
Despite the temporary setback, the legislative landscape could shift in January, when Democrats are expected to take control of both chambers of Congress. That prospect keeps open the debate over the Pentagon’s responsibility for these international operations.
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The vote failed by 7 votes. These 11 Democrats didn’t vote:
Julia Brownley (Calif.), Lou Correa (Calif.), Laura Gillen (NY), Steven Horsford (Nev.), Jonathan Jackson (Ill.), Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Brittany Pettersen (Colo.), Melanie Stansbury (NM), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Marilyn Strickland (Wash.), and Frederica Wilson (Fla.)