自封的“战争部长”皮特·赫格塞斯周二晚间险避弹劾，众议院共和党人的团结阻挠了由众议员托马斯·马西（共和党-肯塔基州）提出的指控赫格塞斯犯有“重罪和轻罪”的法案。尽管民主党人在中期选举大胜后绝大多数加入了马西的行动，但众议院以211票对204票决定将指控提交委员会，使共和党得以拖延进程。由于有11名民主党人缺席，他们人数不足。然而，马西向《拦截者》网站否认了民主党人缺席的影响。“不，有足够的共和党人团结起来才走到这一步，”他说。
Self-styled Secretary of War Pete Hegseth narrowly avoided impeachment Tuesday night, as solidarity from House Republicans blocked a bill introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., charging Hegseth with “high crimes and misdemeanors.”Though Democrats overwhelmingly joined Massie’s effort following their midterm election landslide, the House voted 211 to 204 to refer the charges to a committee, allowing Republicans to slow the process. With 11 Democrats absent, they lacked the numbers. Massie, however, dismissed the impact of Democratic absences to The Intercept. “No, there were enough Republicans to rally to get here,” he said.
这一程序性表决使共和党人免于就马西提出的八项指控是否弹劾赫格塞斯进行更艰难的表决，这些指控包括未经国会授权发动战争以及削弱防止平民伤亡的措施。此前一周，这位五角大楼负责人为争取国会和白宫支持作出了越来越绝望的努力，包括制作一段旨在影响特朗普的竞选风格视频、由下属发起的社交媒体宣传活动，以及赫格塞斯本人罕见地出席五角大楼记者团活动。
The procedural vote spared Republicans a more difficult vote on whether to impeach Hegseth on Massie’s eight charges, including waging wars without Congressional authorization and undercutting measures to prevent civilian casualties. It followed a week of increasingly desperate efforts by the Pentagon chief to shore up Congressional and White House support, including a campaign-style video intended to influence Trump, a social media campaign by underlings, and a rare appearance by Hegseth himself before the Pentagon press corps.
周二上午，在长达半个多小时的时间里，赫格塞斯编织了一张谎言之网，旨在反驳或混淆马西的八项指控。他声称弹劾他的行动只是“一名不满的众议员”的表演。这也被证明是假的，因为有203名国会议员投了马西的票。
Over half an hour on Tuesday morning, Hegseth wove a web of lies designed to refute or obfuscate Massie’s eight charges. He claimed that the effort to impeach him was a stunt by just “one disgruntled congressman.”That, too, turned out to be false as 203 members of Congress voted with Massie.
周二，一个由40多个公民社会组织组成的联盟——包括乐施会美国分会、华盛顿责任与伦理公民组织（CREW）、共同防务、要求进步、行动起来以及昆西负责任国家工艺研究所——致信呼吁所有众议员对针对赫格塞斯提交的每一项弹劾条款投赞成票。
On Tuesday, a coalition of more than 40 civil society organizations – including Oxfam America, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Defense, Demand Progress, MoveOn, and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft – sent a letter calling on all House members to vote for every article of impeachment filed against Hegseth.
“皮特·赫格塞斯在五角大楼的任期给国家和宪法造成了严重伤害，”Demand Progress高级政策顾问卡万·哈拉齐安说。“这是一个无视国会意愿、发动针对伊朗的非法战争、为石油绑架一国领导人、重启对也门的战争、发射导弹杀害疑似贩毒者、并将五角大楼武器化以对付政治敌人的人。”
“Pete Hegseth’s time at the Pentagon has done grievous harm to the nation and to the Constitution,” said Demand Progress Senior Policy Advisor Cavan Kharrazian. “This is a man who ignored the will of Congress to execute an illegal war in Iran, kidnapped a foreign leader for oil, restarted war on Yemen, sent missiles to kill suspected drug traffickers and weaponized the Pentagon against a political enemy.”
众议院历史上仅弹劾过两名内阁部长：1876年的战争部长威廉·贝尔纳普，以及2024年的国土安全部长亚历杭德罗·马约卡斯。这两次参议院均未投票定罪。投票后，马西指责其共和党同僚表现出的不作为。
The House has only impeached two Cabinet secretaries: William Belknap, the secretary of war, in 1876; and Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, in 2024. In neither case did the Senate vote to convict. After the vote, Massie called out the display of inaction from his Republican colleagues.
“他们诊断出了输掉选举的原因，”马西在周二晚投票后谈到同党共和议员时说。“但今晚他们却瘫痪了，什么也做不了。这就是国会的故事。”
“They diagnosed why they lost the election,” Massie said of fellow Republicans following the vote on Tuesday night. “But tonight they were paralyzed to do anything about it. And that’s the story of Congress.”
缺席投票的民主党议员有：加利福尼亚州的朱莉娅·布朗利、卢·科雷亚和南希·佩洛西；纽约州的劳拉·吉伦；内华达州的史蒂文·霍斯福德；伊利诺伊州的乔纳森·杰克逊；科罗拉多州的布列塔尼·佩特森；新墨西哥州的梅拉妮·斯坦斯伯里；密歇根州的海莉·史蒂文斯；华盛顿州的玛丽琳·斯特里克兰；以及佛罗里达州的弗雷德里卡·威尔逊。
Absent from the vote were Democratic Reps. Julia Brownley, Lou Correa and Nancy Pelosi, of California, Laura Gillen of New York, Steven Horsford of Nevada, Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, Haley Stevens of Michigan, Marilyn Strickland of Washington, and Frederica Wilson of Florida.
缺席投票的共和党议员有：得克萨斯州的莫妮卡·德拉克鲁斯；佛罗里达州的尼尔·邓恩；南卡罗来纳州的拉塞尔·弗赖；路易斯安那州的朱莉娅·莱特洛；威斯康星州的汤姆·蒂法尼和德里克·范奥登；以及印第安纳州的鲁迪·亚基姆。
The absent Republicans were Reps. Monica De La Cruz of Texas, Neal Dunn of Florida, Russell Fry of South Carolina, Julia Letlow of Louisiana, Tom Tiffany and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, and Rudy Yakym of Indiana.
一名国会高级职员预测，如果赫格塞思挺过弹劾，他将面临非常艰难的道路。“监督将铺天盖地地落到他头上，”这名职员说。“赫格塞思会继续阻挠吗？会的。但等着传票开始吧。”国会各委员会拥有广泛的调查权力，包括传唤政府官员宣誓作证并强制其交出文件的权力。华盛顿州众议员亚当·史密斯将在下一届国会出任众议院军事委员会主席，他说赫格塞思和国防部副部长史蒂夫·范伯格将是最先被要求作证的人。
A senior Congressional staffer predicted that Hegseth would face a very rough road if he survived impeachment. “Oversight is going to come crashing down on his head,” that staffer said. “Will Hegseth continue to obstruct? Yes. But wait until the subpoenas start.”Congressional committees have broad investigative powers, including the authority to subpoena administration officials to testify under oath and compel them to turn over documents. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, who will head the House Armed Services Committee in the next Congress, said Hegseth and Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg would be first on the list to testify.
亚利桑那州民主党籍众议员亚斯明·安萨里是推动弹劾赫格塞斯的主要声音之一，她告诉《拦截者》网站，民主党在下一届国会有“许多方式”追究他的责任，特别是强迫他在美国民众面前作证。“如果他能在该政府再撑两年，我会感到惊讶，”她对《拦截者》说。“我认为他不仅是政府中最无能的成员之一，也是最不受欢迎的——而且这是跨党派的。所以要求五角大楼换人的压力将继续增加。”
Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., one of the leading voices for Hegseth’s impeachment, told The Intercept there were “many ways” for Democrats to hold him accountable in the next session, specifically compelling him to testify before the American people. “I would be surprised to see him last the next two years in this administration,” she told The Intercept. “I think that he is not only one of the most incompetent members of the administration, but also the most unpopular — and it’s on a bipartisan basis. So the pressure will continue to grow for there to be some change at the Pentagon.”
北卡罗来纳州当选众议员理查德·奥赫达告诉《拦截者》，新当选的民主党人正盯着赫格塞斯。“我不仅想弹劾皮特·赫格塞斯，我还想起诉他。他们在加勒比海谋杀了人。而我们在伊朗杀死了163名小女孩，”他说。“我班里的每个人都准备好让他滚蛋了。我们试过了，没成。我们会再来一次。”
Rep.-elect Richard Ojeda, D-N.C., told The Intercept that the incoming Democrats have Hegseth in their sights. “I want Pete Hegseth not just impeached. I want him prosecuted, They murdered people in the Caribbean. And we killed 163 little girls in Iran,” he said. “Everybody in my class is ready for him to go. We tried it. It didn’t work. We’ll do it again.”
在“真相社交”平台上发布的一篇帖子中，唐纳德·特朗普总统为结果欢呼，同时对投票结果表示困惑。特朗普称这是“民主党试图弹劾”赫格塞斯，尽管该行动是由共和党人梅西发起的，特朗普称他为“一个大输家”。他声称这是对赫格塞斯的“平反”，并补充道：“民主党继续将美利坚合众国武器化并加以滥用。必须制止他们！”
In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump celebrated the outcome while expressing confusion over the vote. Trump called it the “Democrats’ attempt to impeach” Hegseth, despite the fact the effort was introduced by Massie, a Republican, who he called “a major LOSER.”He claimed it was an “EXONERATION” of Hegseth and added: “The Democrats continue to weaponize and abuse the United States of America. They must be stopped!”