The Republican-led US House of Representatives has blocked an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, buying more time for the polarising Pentagon chief before Democrats take control of Congress and possibly try again.
The chamber voted 211 to 204 in favour of a motion to refer the impeachment charges to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, effectively stopping the effort to impeach Hegseth that was sponsored by Republican Thomas Massie.
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, 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 in 2025. 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.
He also said his orders to US forces were lawful, despite Massie's accusations of "high crimes and misdemeanours" ranging from the war itself to the US military raid in January to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
"History will judge the Iran war quite differently than the conventional wisdom right now," he said.
Trump repeated his backing of Hegseth in a post on his Truth Social platform just after the Pentagon briefing ended.
"Pete Hegseth gets an 'A' PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!" he wrote.
Massie was the only Republican who voted against the motion on Tuesday.
The vote came as Republicans grapple with the fallout from sweeping midterm losses that some in the party have blamed on the war in Iran and the resulting surge in gas prices.
with AP
