The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, November 10, voted 211–204 to send the eight impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee instead of holding an immediate floor vote — a procedural move that effectively ends the impeachment effort for the remainder of this Congress. The vote was the result of the case Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky set in motion a day earlier: on Monday, November 9, Massie filed the eight articles as a privileged resolution, forcing the House to act by Wednesday. Tuesday's roll call decided what happened to that filing, and it did not go the way its sponsor wanted.
Source: Madhyamam (IANS inputs, Nov. 11, 2026)
The House did not vote on the merits of any of the eight articles. It voted only on where they would go next — and by referring them to a committee that is under no obligation to take them up, with the current Congress scheduled to end on January 3, lawmakers made a direct impeachment vote during this session highly unlikely, according to the reporting on the vote.
Source: NPR (Eric McDaniel), via KNKX
How the roll call broke down
Under the House roll call reported from Washington, 210 Republicans were joined by independent Kevin Kiley of California in backing the referral. Massie was the sole Republican to vote against it, aligning with 203 Democrats who wanted the impeachment resolution to remain on the floor. Eighteen members did not vote at all — 11 Democrats and seven Republicans — in a seven-vote margin that turned, in the end, on who was physically in the chamber.
Source: Madhyamam (IANS inputs, Nov. 11, 2026)
All six Indian-American members of the House — Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Suhas Subramanyam and Shri Thanedar — voted against referral, supporting keeping the impeachment effort alive rather than sending it to committee. Krishnamoorthi had earlier urged Republicans uncertain about the referral to break with their party, while Thanedar and Jayapal separately called for Hegseth's impeachment.
Source: Madhyamam (IANS inputs, Nov. 11, 2026)
A vote decided by attendance
NPR's congressional reporter Eric McDaniel, who was at the Capitol, described the vote as 'a game of attendance': Democrats had enough members on the rolls to pass the impeachment resolution, but not enough on the floor. Republican leadership had actually been expecting the impeachment to move forward and pass, Politico reported — until 11 Democrats missed the vote.
Source: NPR (Eric McDaniel), via KNKX
According to an Axios reporter cited by Reason, some of the absent Democrats were attending a reception for Elect Democratic Women, a group founded by House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark — the official whose job is making sure members show up to vote. The reception ran from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at a restaurant normally a five-minute drive from the Capitol; the vote was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Four members — Laura Gillen of New York, Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico and Marilyn Strickland of Washington — blamed unexpected traffic, linked to a police escort in the area. Other absences had stated reasons: Lou Correa of California had warned beforehand that a medical procedure would keep him away, Steven Horsford of Nevada cited a personal emergency, Nancy Pelosi was at a prescheduled Veterans Day event in California, according to her spokesman, and Brittany Pettersen of Colorado said she was 'denied the ability to vote' without elaborating. Seven Republicans also missed the vote.
Source: Reason (Matthew Petti, Nov. 11, 2026)
What the eight articles accuse Hegseth of
Massie's first three articles accuse Hegseth of waging war on Iran against Congress's wishes, centred on the February 2026 surprise attack on Iran. The fourth and fifth concern the killing of civilians in Iran and in U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The sixth accuses him of attempting to retaliate against and intimidate Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona — after the Pentagon tried to punish Kelly for a video telling service members they may and must refuse illegal orders. The seventh and eighth concern the administration's undeclared wars in Venezuela and Yemen. These are allegations in a member's resolution; the House has made no finding on any of them.
Source: Reason (Matthew Petti, Nov. 11, 2026)
What Hegseth, the White House and the critics said
Hegseth rejected the allegations at a Pentagon briefing earlier on Tuesday, framing them as political rather than constitutional: 'None of these are high crimes or misdemeanours,' he said. 'They're partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicise our military.' He had put out a video the previous week calling the whole effort a sham, saying it did not work against President Trump and would not work with him. The White House said in a statement that 'the administration strongly opposes this impeachment resolution against Secretary Hegseth — a rogue, politically motivated effort to undermine our warfighters, our nation's Constitution and our national security,' and Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on X: 'Has Pete Hegseth committed impeachable crimes? The question is absurd, and the answer is: obviously not.' President Trump welcomed the result on Truth Social, calling the effort 'miserably FAILED!' and the vote an 'EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot' — a characterisation that goes beyond what the House decided, since it voted on referral, not on the charges themselves.
Source: Madhyamam (IANS inputs, Nov. 11, 2026)
Not every Republican critic of the war backed impeachment. Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio told NPR he believes the Iran conflict is unconstitutional because Congress never authorised it, but he does not blame Hegseth: 'Trying to scapegoat Pete Hegseth is just a kind of status quo politics in Washington,' he said, arguing Congress should use the power of the purse and refuse to fund the war instead. Massie said after the vote that he was disappointed, though not surprised, and that his next step would be to seek a vote on a war powers resolution related to Iran. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, 'This is not the end of it. It's just the beginning,' and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark accused Republicans of shielding Hegseth instead of protecting American service personnel.
Source: NPR (Eric McDaniel), via KNKX
Tuesday's 211–204 vote sent the articles to the Judiciary Committee. It dismissed nothing, cleared nobody and decided none of the eight charges. It means only that this Congress is highly unlikely to hold an impeachment vote on Hegseth before it ends on January 3.
What happens next
The Judiciary Committee is not required to take up the articles, and Massie himself cautioned before the vote that referral would likely end the push for this Congress. The fight now shifts to other leverage points NPR identified: the administration's request for an unprecedented $1.5 trillion in defence money, a separate December 11 government funding deadline, and possible new war powers votes. Democrats won control of both chambers in the November 3 midterm elections and could revive the impeachment effort when the new Congress convenes in January — though conviction would still require a two-thirds Senate vote, and Democrats will not hold that. Only two Cabinet secretaries have previously been impeached in U.S. history — William Belknap in 1876 and Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024 — and neither was removed by the Senate.
Source: NPR (Eric McDaniel), via KNKX