The U.S. House of Representatives has blocked an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a surprise reprieve for President Donald Trump’s administration as Republicans reel from defeat in the midterm elections.
The article of impeachment was introduced by Republican Rep. Thomas Massey, but the effort was supported primarily by Democrats. They accuse Hegseth of abuse of power and conducting illegal military operations.
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The Republican-led House voted 211-204 on Tuesday to refer the article to the House Judiciary Committee and leave it in place indefinitely. This procedural step effectively ended any push for impeachment during the current Congress’ term, which ends in eight weeks. On January 3, Democrats will take control of the House and Senate.
After many twists and turns, it was decided that 11 Democratic Party members were absent during the voting.
Here’s what you need to know about the vote to block Hegseth’s impeachment and what happens next.
What was Tuesday’s vote about?
No vote was taken on whether to impeach Hegseth. The issue was whether the articles of impeachment would be referred to the Judiciary Committee for further investigation or amendment.
Procedural moves like this are often used as stalling tactics. The current Congress is scheduled to adjourn soon, and the resolution is unlikely to be returned to the House floor before the end of the term.
Massey called the vote a “procedural motion to invalidate the resolution.”
What were the results of the vote?
It passed by a narrow margin of 211 to 204.
Massey was the only Republican to vote against the bill. The remaining votes fell along party lines, with Republicans supporting the bill and Democrats opposing it.
A total of 18 members, 11 Democrats and seven Republicans, did not participate in the vote. If Democrats had attended and voted with their colleagues, they would have had the numbers to block the procedural move and force a House vote on whether to impeach Hegseth as early as this week.
President Trump praised Tuesday’s vote in a social media post, saying Democrats’ impeachment efforts “failed miserably!”
Who are the 11 absent Democrats and why did they miss voting?
The Democrats absent from the vote are:
Julia Brownlee (California) Lou Correa (California) Nancy Pelosi (California) Laura Gillen (New York) Stephen Horsford (Nevada) Jonathan Jackson (Illinois) Brittany Pettersen (Colorado) Melanie Stansbury (New Mexico) Haley Stevens (Michigan) Marilyn Strickland (Washington) Frederica Wilson (Florida)
Representatives have given various explanations as to why they did not attend.
Strickland, Jackson, Stansberry and Gillen all blamed traffic delays in Washington, D.C.
Pelosi said she was in her home state for a veterans event, while Correa said she was in California before undergoing a medical exam. Horsford’s office cited a personal emergency.
Mr. Pettersen said he helped introduce articles of impeachment against Mr. Hegseth in April, but he said he was “denied the authority to vote on this motion,” without elaborating.
Jackson, Stansbury, Gillen, Strickland, Horsford, Pelosi and Pettersen all said they would have joined their Democratic colleagues in opposing the bill. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Stansbury also said that although the official vote count had not changed, they had formally recorded their dissent in the Congressional Record.
There was no immediate comment from Stevens, Brownlee or Wilson about the absence.
Stevens has previously criticized the Trump administration for starting wars against Israel and Iran, and called for increased Congressional oversight. But days before the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections, the Michigan congressman who lost the Democratic primary for the state’s open Senate seat to Abdul El-Sayed endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers over his own party’s candidate.
Wilson, 83, attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a housing project in Miami-Dade County on Monday. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Brownlee, like Mr. Stevens, have previously opposed President Trump’s handling of the war against Iran and called for the administration to seek Congressional authorization for combat.
What was your reaction?
Democratic politicians and progressive commentators expressed outrage that Democrats’ poor attendance affected the outcome.
“We knew this vote was coming, and people should have pulled themselves together and voted,” said Rep. Sidney Kamlager Dove of California.
“There is no reason this vote should be lost because of attendance issues,” she added.
In response to a question about Democrats who were absent, Sen. El-Sayed said, “You should all be there and do your work.”
Some experts blamed Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become the new House speaker in January. They accused him of not putting enough pressure on party members to vote down the bill.
Political commentator Crystal Ball called the vote “a Hakeem Jeffries fiasco.”
“They could have impeached war criminal Pete Hegseth, but the Democrats just wouldn’t vote,” she said.
Progressive writer Laura Bassett said, “Mr. Jeffries didn’t even whip the vote. He told people to ‘vote their conscience,’ but 11 members of his caucus didn’t show up. This is why people want stronger leadership.”
Could Hegseth still be impeached?
yes. When a new Democratic-controlled Congress convenes in January, Congress could begin the process again and would be in a stronger position to move forward with articles of impeachment.
Mr. Jeffries said he would consult with members about another possible impeachment of Mr. Hegseth next year. “We will hold discussions at the appropriate time,” he said.
But a vote to impeach Hegseth does not necessarily mean he will be removed from office. Impeachment itself means the House has brought formal charges, similar to criminal charges, against federal officials.
Once the impeachment resolution is passed, a trial will begin in the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, to determine whether to convict.
A conviction that would immediately remove the official from office would require at least two-thirds support in the Senate. This means that even if Democrats win a majority in the House next year, they will likely need the participation of more than a dozen Republicans to secure Mr. Hegseth’s removal from office.
To date, only eight officials (all federal judges) have been convicted by the Senate. Trump has been impeached twice, in December 2019 and January 2021, but the Senate acquitted him both times.
