House Expected to Vote This Week on Impeaching Pentagon Chief Hegseth
A formal impeachment vote in the House would mark a rare congressional challenge to a sitting Defense Secretary, testing whether opposition lawmakers have the votes to advance the measure.
The House of Representatives is expected to hold an impeachment vote against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth this week, according to Channel NewsAsia, which reported the development on November 9, 2026. The vote would represent one of the more significant congressional actions targeting a Cabinet official during the Trump administration's current term.
Channel NewsAsia did not specify which member or members filed the articles of impeachment, or the precise grounds stated in those articles. The specific charges, the number of co-sponsors, and whether House leadership scheduled the vote under a privileged resolution or by another procedural mechanism were not detailed in available public reporting as of November 9, 2026.
Impeachment of a Cabinet officer requires a simple majority vote in the House. If the House votes to impeach, the matter would proceed to the Senate, where a two-thirds majority would be required to remove Hegseth from office. The current partisan composition of the Senate would determine the practical likelihood of removal following any House action.
Hegseth was confirmed as Secretary of Defense in January 2025 after a narrow Senate vote. His confirmation was contested, with several Republican senators initially expressing reservations before the final tally, according to public Senate records. He has led the Pentagon since that confirmation.
Impeachment of a Cabinet official is an infrequent event in American political history. The House has impeached Cabinet members on only a small number of occasions. The most cited precedent is the 1876 impeachment of Secretary of War William Belknap, who resigned before the Senate trial concluded, according to the Congressional Research Service's historical records on impeachment proceedings.
In the current Congress, the House majority and minority configuration would be a determining factor in whether an impeachment resolution passes. The precise vote count available to proponents of impeachment was not confirmed in available public reporting as of this writing. What would clarify the outcome is the official vote tally once the House proceeds to the floor.
The expected vote comes at a moment when congressional activity related to the Trump administration has included several other oversight and legal proceedings. The House has separately seen a discharge petition filed on Afghan TPS protections, as reported by The Congressional Times in its coverage of House Democrat Files Discharge Petition to Restore Afghan TPS Protections.
Hegseth's tenure at the Pentagon has drawn congressional scrutiny on multiple occasions during his time in office, though specific committee findings or investigative reports leading directly to these impeachment articles were not detailed in the Channel NewsAsia report. The source of the articles and any committee markup process, if applicable, remain unconfirmed in public records available as of November 9, 2026.
If the House proceeds to a floor vote and the articles pass, the Senate Majority Leader would have discretion over whether and when to hold a trial, based on established Senate precedent and rules governing impeachment proceedings, as described in Senate procedural records.
The outcome of the vote, the specific articles of impeachment, and Hegseth's formal response, if any has been issued, were not available in the source material published as of this report. This story will be updated as additional public records and official statements become available.