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