Kaitlan Collins Reveals White House Scramble to Protect Pete Hegseth From Impeachment Vote

Kaitlan Collins says White House officials and Republican leaders moved urgently behind the scenes to keep an impeachment effort against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from succeeding. On CNN’s The Source, Collins described the push ahead of a House vote that rejected the articles of impeachment by 211 to 204. The measure had been introduced by Republican Representative Thomas Massie. Collins said Republicans united to defeat the effort, while 11 Democrats did not vote. Massie was the only Republican to side with Democrats. She pointed to the absences as an unexpected factor in the result, saying those members’ nonparticipation may have helped Hegseth avoid a more difficult vote. According to Collins, Republican leaders and White House officials worked intensely on Tuesday to ensure Massie’s proposal would fail. She also cited reporting that party leaders had worried attendance problems among Republicans could undermine their effort to protect the defense secretary. Collins said White House sources told her that newly installed chief of staff Stephen Miller reassured Hegseth that the administration was supporting him. She described Miller as personally close to Hegseth. President Donald Trump had also publicly backed the defense secretary, celebrating the vote’s outcome on Truth Social and calling it an exoneration. But Collins noted that Trump’s support should not necessarily be taken as permanent, referring to his history of backing people until his position changes. The episode, as she presented it, combined a narrowly decided House vote with a behind-the-scenes effort by party and administration figures to keep Hegseth in place.