The United States House of Representatives approved this Tuesday (10) a Republican maneuver to block the vote on the impeachment request against Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War in the Trump administration and head of the Pentagon.
The proposal was approved by 211 votes to 204. With the decision, the articles of impeachment presented by Republican Representative Thomas Massie will be sent to the House Judiciary Committee, controlled by Republicans.
In practice, the decision prevents the accusations from being submitted to a plenary vote at this time.
As the Republicans have a majority on the commission, the party now controls the analysis of the request and can prevent it from advancing to a vote by the other deputies.
The proposal may also remain at a standstill in the collegiate until the end of the current legislature, in January 2027.
The request was presented on Monday (9) by Massie, who belongs to the same party as Donald Trump. The initiative provides for eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hegseth defended himself against the accusations in an interview with journalists at the Pentagon. The secretary called the impeachment request against him a "farce" and a "political spectacle" that will fail. Hegseth also attacked the proposal's author, Thomas Massie.
"It is a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment, planned for the last days of a man in Congress, with the aim of harming this president, this country and, most irresponsibly, the warriors who defend it. It is a farce and a political maneuver, and everyone knows it," he said.
'Scapegoat' after 'blue wave'
The impeachment request comes after the Republican Party's defeat at the polls in the midterm elections.
President Trump's party lost control in both the House and the Senate, in what the American press called a "blue wave" — in reference to the color of the Democratic Party.
The war in Iran is seen as one of the main factors that caused the Republican collapse and placed Hegseth, head of the Pentagon, in the crosshairs of both Democrats and his Republican supporters.
For Sandra Cohen, columnist at g1, the Secretary of War was in the spotlight even before last week's Republican electoral disaster, but he quickly became the election's scapegoat.
Thomas Massie's accusations against Hegseth
US Representative Thomas Massie (Republican from Kentucky) holds a press conference about his proposal to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Capitol in Washington, United States, on November 9, 2026. — Photo: Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein
Representative Thomas Massie brought together eight charges against Pete Hegseth. The report was read in the Chamber plenary on Monday.
For the Republican, the Secretary of War abused the powers of his office and disrespected the American Constitution by executing and maintaining military operations without the authorization required by law.
Check out the 8 charges in the impeachment process against Hegseth below:
Wage war against Iran without congressional authorization.
Disobeying Iran's withdrawal order, even after the House and Senate passed a resolution to withdraw troops.
Maintain operations in Iran beyond the legal period of 60 days provided by law.
Weaken the protection of civilians by reducing mechanisms for preventing and investigating deaths caused by military operations.
Authorize extrajudicial executions of suspected drug traffickers, through attacks against vessels suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
Intimidating Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, after the parliamentarian argued that the military could refuse to carry out illegal orders.
Capturing Nicolás Maduro without authorization from Congress.
Conducting war in Yemen without congressional authorization.
How does the impeachment process work?
The US Constitution determines that it is up to the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings. The Senate is responsible for judging the accusations and deciding whether the investigation should be condemned and removed from office.
The process can begin with an investigation by deputies.
After analyzing the accusations, the Chamber votes on whether the secretary should be impeached.
For impeachment to be approved in the Chamber, a simple majority of votes is required, that is, more than half of the parliamentarians present.
In Hegseth's case, Representative Thomas Massie directly filed a request for impeachment, without going through an investigation by a House committee.
If the House had approved impeachment, the process would have gone to the Senate, where lawmakers would decide whether Hegseth should be convicted and removed from office.
Impeachment unlikely
Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump in file photo. — Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Despite political pressure, Hegseth's removal was already considered unlikely.
Congressional sources interviewed by the Reuters agency estimated that impeachment could even obtain enough votes to advance in the Chamber, even with the Republicans still in control of the House. Democrats will only assume the majority on January 3rd.
However, the situation would be different in the Senate. To convict Hegseth, a vote from two-thirds of parliamentarians would be required. Currently, Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats, which would make this outcome unlikely.
The only US Secretary of War to ever be impeached was William Belknap, in 1876. He resigned from office before the vote in the House, but the process continued in the Senate, which ended up acquitting him due to lack of votes.
