Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (who styles himself the “Secretary of War”) survived an attempt at impeachment in the House on Tuesday evening, although there’s every reason to suspect the reprieve may be temporary.

House GOP leaders smothered the attempt, which was led by sole Republican defector Rep. Thomas Massie and backed by all Democrats present, with a 211-204 vote to refer the matter to the House Judiciary Committee. Deflecting a full vote by referring it to a committee is a time-honored tactic to stall or kill legislative proposals.

Massie had cited not just the “illegal war in Iran” in his impeachment drive but an impressive number of Hegseth’s misdeeds: extrajudicial killings of at least 221 people on boats Hegseth claimed were carrying drugs, ignoring congressional war powers resolutions, causing massive civilian casualties, kidnapping foreign leaders (such as then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro), and attempting to intimidate critics, including via a failed effort to demote Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) in his military retirement and slash his pension. (In related news: On Tuesday, and for no apparent reason, Pentagon officials reportedly threatened reporters with physical removal if they “get out of line.” They then refused to clarify what they meant, other than maintaining “decorum” in Hegseth’s presence.)

Not present on Massie’s list was Hegseth’s announcement last month that he would publicly livestream the military execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who murdered 13 unarmed people and wounded 32 others in a 2009 terror attack on Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas.

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