House Votes 211-204 to Refer Hegseth Impeachment to Committee, Shelving Massie's Resolution

Status: On Tuesday the House voted 211-204 to refer the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee, a procedural step that shelves a floor vote on the articles themselves for the remainder of this Congress, NBC News, NPR, and the House clerk's roll call report. The vote was not a judgment on whether the charges are true.

The resolution was written and filed as a privileged measure by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a Republican who lost his party's primary this year and is leaving Congress. Massie was the only Republican who voted against the referral, joining Democrats who wanted the articles kept on the floor, NBC reported. The official tally shows Republicans 210-1 in favor of referring the measure, Democrats 0-203 against, and one independent voting yes, with 18 members not voting.

President Trump, posting on Truth Social after the vote, called the outcome an "EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot," NBC reported. He had earlier praised Hegseth's defense against what he called a "disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!" Trump and Hegseth also described the push in terms associated with Democrats. The record of the vote is more specific: a Republican-led House referred a resolution that a Republican introduced, and Massie was the lone Republican nay. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has said Democrats will "run Pete Hegseth out of town" when they take the majority in January, NBC reported, a separate political threat from this week's referral.

What Massie charged, and how Hegseth answered

Massie's eight articles, as described by NBC, include three War Powers counts over the Iran war — waging it without a declaration of war or other authorization Massie considers sufficient, continuing hostilities after the House and Senate directed the removal of U.S. forces, and continuing after the War Powers Resolution's 60-day period — plus an article on laws intended to minimize civilian casualties. Other articles concern strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which Massie says was done without congressional authorization, an alleged retaliatory use of the Defense Department against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and the war in Yemen.

"Somebody's got to put their foot down and say, 'Are we going to follow the laws that are on the books? Are we going to follow the Constitution?'" Massie said, according to NBC. Hegseth, he said, "has violated the norms of war, and it's to the disadvantage and the dishonor of our country, and to the danger of our soldiers in future conflicts." Those are Massie's accusations. They have not been adjudicated.

At a Pentagon news conference Tuesday morning, Hegseth called the impeachment effort "a farce" and "a stunt" and a "political spectacle," NBC reported. He said the operations Massie cited were lawful. "We destroyed terror regimes' capabilities. We sank the boats carrying poison into our communities. We put a narco dictator in handcuffs. These are not high crimes. This is the job, and it's the job well done," he said.

Some Republicans who have criticized Hegseth still opposed impeachment. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told reporters he did not "really align with the impeachment itself," NBC reported. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said that even if the House had adopted the articles, "it's going to die in the Senate" and that, in his view, "the secretary has committed no high crimes or misdemeanors."

The referral ends the privileged floor process Massie began this week. For the filing that forced Tuesday's vote, see Massie Forces Privileged House Vote on Hegseth Impeachment Articles Over Iran War.