US House blocks path to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

Résumé détaillé

WASHINGTON: The Republican-led US House of Representatives moved on Tuesday (Nov 10) to effectively block an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, buying more time for the polarising Pentagon chief before Democrats take control of Congress next year and possibly try again.

The vote on a procedural motion came just hours after Hegseth blasted efforts to impeach him as a farce and delivered a defiant defence of his record at the helm of the Pentagon, winning praise from President Donald Trump.

Republicans passed a motion to refer eight articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee, a move that the sponsor of the impeachment push, US Representative Thomas Massie, warned would kill it.

Massie, an outgoing Kentucky Republican, hoped to draw votes from Republicans upset with Hegseth's policies and wary of the unpopularity of the Iran war. Democrats had voiced strong support for the impeachment effort and they tried to help Massie clear the way for an impeachment vote.

Hegseth would have been the first US defence secretary to be impeached. The last time any civilian leader of the US military was impeached was in 1876, when William Belknap held the title "secretary of war".

Hegseth calls himself secretary of war, part of his effort to rebrand a military he said was too weak and "woke" when he took office last year. Trump cannot change the name of the Defense Department without approval from Congress.

Voter anger over the Iran war, which has settled into an effective stalemate focused on securing the Strait of Hormuz, helped Democrats win control of Congress in last week's midterm elections.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries took aim at Hegseth ahead of the vote, saying on Monday: "Pete Hegseth has abused his power, undermined America's national security, and he's the architect of the reckless and costly failed war of choice in Iran."

But Hegseth repeatedly defended the conflict, calling Trump courageous and saying Iran's military has been left in ruins.

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