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Politics United States

Push to impeach Pete Hegseth

On Nov 10 the House voted 211-204 to send Thomas Massie's impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee, shelving them for now. Democrats, who take control in January, are criticising the 11 members who missed the vote and discussing new articles.

Confidence: high. The 211-204 referral vote and Massie's lone Republican dissent are reported the same way by CBS News, NBC News, AP, AFP, Al Jazeera and Fox News. The eight articles are Massie's allegations, not findings, and the toll of the school strike they cite varies by source, from up to 168 killed (AP) to more than 200 killed or injured (the resolution, as summarized by Breaking Defense). · Updated 11 Nov 2026, 2pm ET

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Why it matters: Only two US cabinet officials have ever been impeached by the House and neither was removed by the Senate; Massie's resolution sought to make the sitting defense secretary the third. source

What's happening

Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger and leaves Congress in January, first tried to force an impeachment vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in September; Speaker Mike Johnson then sent the House home early for the campaign recess and no vote was held. After Democrats won both chambers in the Nov 3 midterms, Massie refiled on Nov 9 as a privileged resolution, which must be taken up within two legislative days. Its eight articles accuse Hegseth of waging the eight-month war with Iran in breach of the War Powers Resolution (three articles), ignoring laws meant to limit civilian casualties, citing a US missile strike on a girls' primary school in Minab that AP says killed up to 168 people, retaliating against Senator Mark Kelly over a video on unlawful orders, the seizure of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, an unlawful war in Yemen, and extrajudicial killings in strikes on alleged drug boats. Hegseth, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance rejected the charges, while Jeffries and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer backed impeachment. On Nov 10 the House voted 211-204 to refer the resolution to the Judiciary Committee instead of voting on the articles. Removal would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, and only two cabinet officials have ever been impeached.

What changed recently

Key figures

211-204, with Massie the only Republican opposedHouse vote to refer Massie's impeachment resolution to the Judiciary CommitteeHouse vote as reported by CBS News · 2026-11-10 · source
8, three of them on War Powers Resolution violations over IranArticles of impeachment in Massie's 34-page resolutionBreaking Defense, summarizing the resolution Massie introduced on Nov 9 · 2026-11-09 · source
11Democrats who missed the referral voteAFP · 2026-11-10 · source

What experts say

Their views, summarized in our words.

Sources