Hegseth Survives Impeachment Attempt

Self-styled Secretary of War Pete Hegseth narrowly avoided impeachment Tuesday night, as solidarity from House Republicans blocked a bill introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., charging Hegseth with “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Though Democrats overwhelmingly joined Massie’s effort following their midterm election landslide, the House voted 211 to 204 to refer the charges to a committee, allowing Republicans to slow the process. He claimed that the effort to impeach him was a stunt by just “one disgruntled congressman.” That, too, turned out to be false as 203 members of Congress voted with Massie. On Tuesday, a coalition of more than 40 civil society organizations – including Oxfam America, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Defense, Demand Progress, MoveOn, and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft – sent a letter calling on all House members to vote for every article of impeachment filed against Hegseth. “Pete Hegseth’s time at the Pentagon has done grievous harm to the nation and to the Constitution,” said Demand Progress Senior Policy Advisor Cavan Kharrazian. “This is a man who ignored the will of Congress to execute an illegal war in Iran, kidnapped a foreign leader for oil, restarted war on Yemen, sent missiles to kill suspected drug traffickers and weaponized the Pentagon against a political enemy.” “They diagnosed why they lost the election. In neither case did the Senate vote to convict. And that’s the story of Congress.” Absent from the vote were Democratic Reps. Adam Smith of Washington, who will head the House Armed Services Committee in the next Congress, said Hegseth and Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg would be first on the list to testify. By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. Fighting for his job before an