“"If the impeachment vote in the House is successful, Hegseth would be the third Cabinet secretary to be impeached." — Lauren Chadwick and Michael Williams, CNN, Nov. 9, 2026”
The claim: “"If the impeachment vote in the House is successful, Hegseth would be the third Cabinet secretary to be impeached." — Lauren Chadwick and Michael Williams, CNN, Nov. 9, 2026”
Why we rated it this way: The House Historian's list of every person the House has impeached includes exactly two Cabinet secretaries: Secretary of War William W. Belknap, impeached March 2, 1876, and acquitted, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, impeached Feb. 13, 2024, whose charges were dismissed without a trial. Everyone else on the list is a president, a senator or a judge, so a House vote to impeach Hegseth would make him the third. CNN's description of the Senate failing to convict Belknap and voting to end the Mayorkas case also matches the list.
See the evidenceWhat would change our rating: An official House record showing another Cabinet secretary was impeached, or the House voting down or tabling Massie's resolution, which would leave the comparison hypothetical, would change how this is graded.
CNN, "How impeachment of a Cabinet secretary like Hegseth works," Nov. 9, 2026
Our read
The House Historian's list of every person the House has impeached includes exactly two Cabinet secretaries: Secretary of War William W. Belknap, impeached March 2, 1876, and acquitted, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, impeached Feb. 13, 2024, whose charges were dismissed without a trial. Everyone else on the list is a president, a senator or a judge, so a House vote to impeach Hegseth would make him the third. CNN's description of the Senate failing to convict Belknap and voting to end the Mayorkas case also matches the list.
Broadcast
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Nov 9, 2026, 5:30 PM CST
Sources
Script
Narration script. If a face or a voice delivers this, the anchor is synthetic.
Evening Check. CNN says that if the House impeaches Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, he'd be just the third Cabinet secretary ever impeached. The House's official list shows only two before him, William Belknap in 1876 and Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024. Verdict: matches record.
Corrections
None on file.