President Donald Trump celebrated this Tuesday the blocking of the impeachment trial against Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, following a vote in the House of Representatives that shelved the initiative for the remainder of the 119th Congress.
The Democrats' attempt to initiate impeachment proceedings against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has FAILED spectacularly! Every single Republican, except for Thomas Massie—a true FAILURE—voted in favor of Pete," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
"Once again, the successes in Venezuela and Iran, the highest recruitment numbers in the history of the Armed Forces (with long waiting lists to enlist!) and a spirit not seen in a long time, led to the EXONERATION of a great American patriot. The Democrats continue to use the United States of America as a weapon and to abuse the country. We must stop them! LET’S MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," Trump added.
The vote was 211 to 204 in favor of referring the resolution to the Judiciary Committee, a procedural move that effectively hinders the progress of the process. All Republicans, except one, supported this maneuver; all Democrats voted against it, seeking to bring the resolution to a direct vote on impeachment.
The Republican exception was the very author of the initiative: Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, whom Trump referred to as a "great LOSER" in his post. Massie, a legislator with a libertarian and anti-interventionist profile, introduced a 34-page resolution on Monday with eight articles of impeachment that alleged, among other things, that Hegseth engaged in hostilities in Iran for over 90 days without congressional authorization, in violation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
The charges also included allegations of operations in Venezuela and Yemen, suspected extrajudicial executions, and reprisals against Senator Mark Kelly. Massie lost his Republican primary in May 2026 to a Trump-backed candidate, making this initiative his final major legislative move before leaving office in January 2027.
Hegseth offered a press conference at the Pentagon this Tuesday —the first in about six months— to reject the charges. He described the impeachment attempt as a "political spectacle" and argued that the initiative was neither oversight nor accountability, but rather "a personal manifesto driven by the ego and resentment of a discontented and defeated congressman." He defended the legality of all the questioned military operations, claiming they were ordered by Trump and duly reported to Congress.
"This is not patriotism; it is sabotage," Hegseth declared to the media.
The Democratic leader of the House, Hakeem Jeffries, had accused Hegseth of abusing his power and being the architect of a "reckless and costly" war against Iran. With the block this Tuesday, the Democrats will have to wait until January 2027, when they take control of the House, to resume any impeachment attempts, although a potential conviction in the Senate would have required a two-thirds majority, a threshold considered unlikely with the Republicans controlling 53 of the 100 seats.
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