FOR PETE'S SAKE

House Takes Crucial Vote on Impeaching Pentagon Pete

The vote, at 211-204, is a victory for Hegseth.

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Republicans have blocked an impeachment vote against embattled Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. The vote, which was the first attempt by House members to impeach a member of Trump’s Cabinet as Democrats prepare to retake the majority and set their sights on multiple top administration officials come January, saw the effort rejected by 211-204. The articles of impeachment were reintroduced on Monday by outgoing Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who previously introduced his resolution in mid-September before the midterms. He accused Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution over the war in Iran, ignoring laws to minimize casualties, illegally kidnapping the leader of Venezuela, carrying out extrajudicial killings against alleged drug traffickers, and conducting an unlawful war in Yemen. Hegseth mounted his own defense in a press conference at the Pentagon on Tuesday morning ahead of the procedural vote. “In the 250 years of our American republic, no Secretary of War or Secretary of Defense has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations, and in our case, successful ones,” he said.

Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

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