Iran war live: US House blocks Hegseth impeachment efforts, 11 Dems miss

Official figures on the Clerk of the US House of Representatives website lists the 11 Democrats who missed the vote on whether to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday.

House Republicans blocked the bill, introduced by Republican Party member Thomas Massie, 211 – 204. Eighteen lawmakers in total did not vote.

The Office of the Clerk website shows the names of the 11 Democrats whose votes could have tipped the balance.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff says Democrats plan to use the coming negotiations over government funding to try to cut off money for the US war on Iran.

“On December 11, the government funding bill is running out, which means we will have a negotiation over continuing funding,” Schiff said in a video statement on X. “That gives us the opportunity to do one of the things that voters said they wanted: an end to the war in Iran.”

He said Democrats would be able to use the budget process “to cut off funding, to apply pressure to bring this war to a conclusion”. The war “was never authorized by Congress, never sought by the American people”, Schiff said, and the administration’s justifications “have been moving and shifting”.

“It’s done nothing but emboldened Iran, which now has more say over the Strait of Hormuz than it even had before the war,” he added.

The US House of Representatives has voted to block the impeachment process against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, referring the articles filed by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie to the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee.

The move effectively stalls the effort, preventing an immediate impeachment vote and making further action unlikely while Republicans control the committee.

However, the issue could return when Democrats take control of Congress in January, with party leaders signalling plans to investigate Hegseth’s role in the war against Iran, the operation that removed Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro from power and military strikes on suspected drug boats that caused civilian casualties.

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The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says one of its patrols came under fire in southern Lebanon, without saying who was responsible.

UNIFIL said that “about a dozen rounds” were fired at the patrol near Wadi Jilu, in Lebanon’s Tyre district. The patrol returned fire, after which the shooting stopped. No casualties were reported, and the force called for an investigation.

“Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are violations of Security Council resolution 1701 and international humanitarian law,” UNIFIL said.

The incident comes as the future of the force is uncertain.

The UN Security Council voted last year, under US pressure, to end UNIFIL’s mandate on December 31, 2026, though Lebanese officials have called for an extension. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that G7 foreign ministers agreed on the need “to avoid a security void” in Lebanon after the mandate ends, but that there was no breakthrough on a replacement.

UNIFIL has about 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries.

Read more here.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has moved out of his home and into a military base following threats against his life from Iran, The New York Times reports, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The newspaper said US officials had concluded that Iranian plots targeting current and former American officials had reached a more advanced stage, partly based on intelligence concerning threats against Bessent.

Bessent had led Washington’s economic pressure campaign against Iran since August, seeking to isolate Tehran financially through tougher sanctions and restrictions on trade routes.

A Treasury Department spokesperson told the newspaper that Bessent “will not be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats”.

The severity of the threats against him remained unclear, the report said.

Democratic Representative Jonathan Jackson says a traffic incident and a police-escorted bus prevented him from reaching the House chamber in time to vote against blocking the impeachment of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his role in the US-Israel war on Iran.

Jackson was among 11 Democrats who missed Tuesday’s vote, in which the House voted 211 to 204 to refer the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee, effectively halting the effort.

In a post on X, Jackson said he was on his way to the chamber when the delays occurred, causing him and other lawmakers to arrive after voting had closed.

He said he had since entered his opposition to the motion in the Congressional Record, although this did not change the official vote tally.

Jackson accused Republicans of attempting to stall accountability without allowing a direct vote on the impeachment charges.

“I remain firm in my position that Secretary Hegseth must be held accountable and impeached,” he said.

Russia and Iran have held consultations in Moscow on regional issues, with a focus on resolving conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, the Russian Foreign Ministry says, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko met Mehdi Shoushtari, the director general for West Asia and North Africa at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, who travelled to Moscow to take part in consultations between the two foreign ministries on regional issues.

Borisenko also met the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s deputy secretary-general for political affairs, Yousef Aldobeay, who was in Moscow for an international forum on collective security, according to IRNA.

They discussed rising tensions in the Gulf and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and stressed the need to resolve crises through political and diplomatic means, in line with international law, it added.

Israeli settlers have set fire to Palestinian property in the village of al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

Residents filmed as firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze as it tore through a mechanic’s workshop and vehicle scrapyard.

The Pentagon has declared “total victory” after Republicans in the US House of Representatives blocked an effort to impeach US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his role in the US-Israel war on Iran.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X that referring the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee marked a victory for Hegseth, the department and US troops.

He dismissed the effort as a political exercise without merit and said the department looked forward to ending what he called a “sham impeachment” in committee.

Republican Representative Tim Burchett criticised the impeachment effort after leaving the House chamber, defending US military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels. “You’re going to impeach some guy who stopped drug dealers and drug boats coming into the country!” he told reporters.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said US President Donald Trump retained confidence in Hegseth. “He serves the pleasure of the president. The president has confidence in him,” Thune said.

The House voted 211 to 204 to refer the resolution to committee. Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who introduced the impeachment articles over Hegseth’s conduct of the war on Iran and other military operations, was the only member of his party to oppose the move.

Democratic lawmakers have criticised the Republican-led House vote blocking the impeachment of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his role in the war on Iran, with some vowing to renew the effort.

The House voted 211 to 204 to refer the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee, effectively halting the effort.

Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove criticised her colleagues who failed to attend, saying there was no reason for the effort to fail because of attendance. “Shame on folks who are not here,” she said.

Representative Mike Quigley wrote on X: “Tonight, I voted to impeach Pete Hegseth. While that vote failed, impeachment will happen.”

“It might happen tomorrow, it might happen in January,” he added.

House Armed Services Committee member Chris Deluzio also called for Hegseth’s removal, saying Congress should impeach him if President Donald Trump will not fire him.

Representative Yassamin Ansari went further, calling for an investigation into the Pentagon’s entire leadership over its handling of the war on Iran.

“I absolutely support investigating the entire leadership at the Department of War, beginning with Pete Hegseth,” she wrote on X, accusing officials of carrying out illegal orders that endangered US service members and resulted in 23 deaths.

Twelve US senators, led by Chris Van Hollen, are urging congressional leaders to drop three provisions on defence and intelligence cooperation with Israel from the final fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), saying they would “further entrench concerning aspects” of the relationship at a time when Israel’s actions are “increasingly undermining US interests and values”.

In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the top members of both chambers’ armed services committees, the senators targeted Section 1217 of the Senate bill and Section 219 of the House bill, which would create a “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative” for technology sharing, co-production of weapons and joint research in areas including artificial intelligence, quantum and cyberwarfare.

They also opposed Section 618 of the Senate’s intelligence authorisation bill, which would require expanded intelligence sharing with Israel and states that such sharing “shall not be suspended, reduced, or otherwise materially limited”.

US President Donald Trump has reacted on Truth Social to a derailed bid to impeach US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying it has “miserably FAILED”.

“Every single Republican, except Thomas Massie, a major LOSER, voted in favor of Pete,” he said.

Trump cited military “victories in Venezuela and Iran”, record recruitment numbers and “Spirit like rarely seen before” as the reasons for the “EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot”.

He accused the Democrats of weaponising and abusing the US, saying they must be stopped.

The House voted 211 to 204 to send the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee, effectively derailing a planned vote on Wednesday on whether to bring formal charges against Hegseth.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a news briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 9, 2026 [File: Mandel Ngan/AFP]Trump hails Hegseth as ‘Great American Patriot’ after impeachment effort fails

There is a problem with the US believing it can simply maintain the situation in Iran.

The US has a huge military presence in the Middle East, including three aircraft carrier groups. That is a lot of sailors, and a lot of people supplying and flying the aircraft.

Congress might not continue to fund that level of operation if this is just a watch-and-maintain operation.

So things could change dramatically in January, when control of both houses of Congress officially shifts to the Democratic Party.

But for the moment, there is no sign of a signing ceremony somewhere like Finland or Switzerland, and the US, at least, appears set to continue with the status quo.

• Republicans in the US House of Representatives blocked an effort to impeach US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his role in the war on Iran, among other allegations, voting 211 to 204 to refer the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee.
• Israeli forces carried out two air strikes on an industrial facility in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, setting fire to nearby tents sheltering displaced Palestinians. At least eight Palestinians, including a father and his 13-year-old son, were killed in Israeli attacks throughout Tuesday.
• Israeli forces arrested at least 12 Palestinians in raids across the occupied West Bank. Settlers also attacked farmers and olive harvesters, injuring a journalist and a foreign solidarity activist.
• Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said China could play a significant role in ending the war and the state of “neither war nor peace” in the region.
• The US Justice Department indicted three men accused of supporting Iran-backed groups and involvement in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the US, including a plot targeting the RAF Fairford airbase in the UK.
• Yemen’s foreign minister urged Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member states to designate the Houthis a “terrorist organisation” and cut off their financing.

Hello, and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Stay with us for the latest developments, reactions and analysis of the war and its fallout across the globe, including in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

You can find our updates from Tuesday, November 10, here.