Trump hails Hegseth as ‘great American patriot’ after US House blocks impeachment bid

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth after Republicans in the House of Representatives blocked an effort to impeach him, giving the Pentagon chief a reprieve ahead of Democrats taking control of Congress next year.

The House voted 211-204 on Tuesday in favour of referring eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, effectively halting the effort at a procedural stage.

Trump celebrated the outcome in a social media post, declaring that the impeachment effort had “miserably FAILED!” He also praised Hegseth’s handling of Iran, Venezuela and other issues, describing the vote as the “EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot”.

The vote came hours after Hegseth dismissed the impeachment initiative as a farce and mounted a forceful defence of his record during a rare briefing at the Pentagon.

Hegseth would have been the first US defense secretary to be impeached. The last time any civilian leader of the US military was impeached was in 1876, when William Belknap held the title “secretary of war.”

Hegseth calls himself secretary of war, part of his effort to rebrand a military he said was too weak and “woke” when he took office last year. Trump cannot change the name of the Defense Department without approval from Congress.

Iran war anger

Voter anger over the Iran war, which has settled into an effective stalemate focused on securing the Strait of Hormuz, helped Democrats win control of Congress in last week’s midterm elections.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Tuesday found a majority of Americans want the newly elected Democratic-majority US Congress, which takes office in January, to act to end the war with Iran once and for all.

Although Vice President JD Vance has publicly questioned the war and blamed it for the Republicans’ midterm rout, he voiced support for Hegseth on Tuesday.

“This isn’t about Iran, this is about the fact that Pete took on the bureaucracy at the Pentagon,” Vance wrote on social media.

Before the vote, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday: “Pete Hegseth has abused his power, undermined America’s national security, and he’s the architect of the reckless and costly failed war of choice in Iran.”

Hegseth has repeatedly defended the conflict, calling Trump courageous and saying Iran’s military has been left in ruins. He also said his orders to US forces were lawful, despite Massie’s accusations of “high crimes and misdemeanors”.

“History will judge the Iran war quite differently than the conventional wisdom right now,” Hegseth said on Tuesday at his first Pentagon briefing in six months.

Jeffries said he would talk to members about whether to mount a new impeachment effort in the next Congress. “We’ll have that conversation at the appropriate time,” he said.

A Democratic-led push to impeach Hegseth could be far more intense, with lawmakers calling in top brass to testify, including generals and admirals fired by Hegseth who have remained silent so far. Hegseth, who has railed against diversity efforts at the Pentagon, fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is Black, and the Navy’s top admiral, a woman, among others.

In such an effort, Democrats could also raise other issues of concern to voters including Pentagon policy toward Ukraine and the US military’s strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats in Caribbean and Pacific waters.

Some Republicans say Hegseth’s strained relations with Congress are becoming a political liability as the Trump administration seeks a huge increase in the military’s budget to $1.5 trillion from $950 billion.

Massie said he was disappointed by the vote, comparing Republicans to passengers content to go down with the Titanic.

“They know it’s a sinking ship but committed to stay on board,” he said.