US House Republicans voted on Tuesday to effectively block an impeachment bid against US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, handing a victory to President Donald Trump as his administration reels from last week's midterm defeat.
Trump praised the outcome online, describing Hegseth as a "Great American Patriot" and saying the effort to impeach the hawkish Pentagon chief "has miserably FAILED!"
Hegseth has been facing increasing political pressure over the Iran war. Yesterday, Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie introduced a resolution to impeach Hegseth in an apparent bid to force a vote before the new US Congress convenes in January.
Massie is one of the few prominent Republicans who is also an outspoken Trump critic. The Kentucky congressman accuses the US defense secretary of waging the war illegally and without congressional approval. While the resolution focuses on Iran, it also questions Hegseth's actions regarding the strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen and military operations in Venezuela.
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Earlier on Tuesday, Hegseth dismissed the accusations as "slander" and "sabotage."
"It's a farce, and it's a stunt, and everybody knows it," he said at a Pentagon press conference.
The US House of Representatives has now voted 211 to 204 to refer the initiative to the Republican-led House Judiciary…
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