US Republicans derail bid to impeach Pentagon chief

WASHINGTON, DC

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth takes questions from reporters during a news conference at the Pentagon on November 10, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 10 blocked an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war, handing President Donald Trump a victory days after his party’s crushing midterm election defeat.

The House voted 211 to 204 to send the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee, effectively derailing a planned vote on Nov. 11 on whether to bring formal charges against the embattled Pentagon chief.

The resolution was introduced by Republican Thomas Massie, a Trump critic who was the only member of his party to oppose the procedural maneuver, according to U.S. media.

The impeachment drive had threatened to deepen Trump’s troubles after Democrats swept last week’s midterms, with anger at the sputtering Iran war and soaring fuel prices helping drive voters to a historic rejection of Republicans.

Republicans still hold a narrow House majority until January, when Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress. And 11 Democrats missed the vote.

Trump hailed the procedural defeat as an “EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot,” in a post on Truth Social, while Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, in a post on X, called the vote as a “TOTAL VICTORY!”

“We look forward to ending this sham impeachment in the committee room, where facts will continue to prevail and this distraction can be put to rest,” Parnell added.

Hegseth earlier on Nov. 10 dismissed the impeachment effort as a “farce” and defended his record leading the Iran war and other military operations under Trump.

“It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt, and everybody knows it,” he said at a Pentagon press conference, branding the accusations “slander” and “sabotage.”