An effort to impeach US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of waging war on Iran without congressional authorisation, has failed on Capitol Hill.

A majority of the House of Representatives agreed to refer impeachment articles to a committee – essentially killing the effort introduced by dissident Republican congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky – for now.

In his first news briefing from the Pentagon in six months, Hegseth called the impeachment effort a “farce” and “sabotage”.

The bid to find the cabinet secretary guilty of misconduct and ultimately remove him from office was seen as a long shot as it could have required a number of other Republicans to defy President Donald Trump.

Massie was the only Republican to vote against moving the resolution to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

His effort failed in a 211-204 vote, with more than a dozen members, including 11 Democrats, missing the vote.

The move to send the measure to the panel effectively kills the effort, as there is only a short period of time left in this Congress before Democrats take control in January.

President Trump celebrated the vote in a post on Truth Social, saying the effort “has miserably FAILED”.

“Again, Victories in Venezuela and Iran, the Best Recruitment Numbers in the History of the Military (Long waiting lists to get in!), and Spirit like rarely seen before, led to the EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot,” Trump said, referring to Hegseth.

Massie had previously acknowledged his impeachment bid may not succeed immediately, but argued it could help push Trump to replace Hegseth before Democrats can launch their own impeachment process.