Nancy Pelosi missed a potentially decisive House vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as she returned to California to accept a lifetime achievement award, while Democrats’ effort to remove the Pentagon chief fell short.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the Republican who introduced the articles of impeachment against Hegseth, was the only GOP lawmaker to support the measure. It failed by a vote of 211-204.
However, The New York Times reported that Republicans had been concerned the absence of some of their members could allow the impeachment effort to advance.
In the end, 11 Democrats—including Pelosi—did not cast a vote.
Several absent lawmakers were reportedly in Washington and cited traffic delays as the reason they failed to reach the chamber. Pelosi, however, flew home to California on Tuesday, according to SFGate.
Pelosi spokesperson Ian Krager said the former speaker supports the impeachment effort and would have voted to move it forward, but was attending an event honoring her work with veterans.
“Speaker Emerita Pelosi returned to San Francisco to join and honor local veterans at Swords to Plowshares’ 30th Annual Veterans Day Celebration tonight, an important and longstanding district tradition she regularly attends and will mark for the last time as a Member of Congress by receiving the Lifetime Advocate for Veterans Award,” Krager said.
Swords to Plowshares is a Bay Area nonprofit organization that provides services and support to veterans across the region.
The failed vote prompted anger among Democrats, many of whom criticized the lawmakers who were absent when the impeachment resolution came before the House on Tuesday night.
Nancy Pelosi skipped out on being a potentially crucial vote on Pete Hegseth’s impeachment to receive a lifetime achievement award as Democrats bid to depose the Pentagon chief failed
Republican Thomas Massie, who filed articles of impeachment against Hegseth, was the lone Republican to signal in favor in a 211-204 vote
‘We knew that this vote was coming, so people should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote,’ said California Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove.
‘I don’t know why people weren’t here. Someone may have a health issue. I don’t know. But obviously, having a vote like that on attendance is hard. That hurts,’ said Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
‘You should show up and do your job,’ added Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan in an interview with CNN.
Other Democrats said traffic entering the Capitol due to a police escort for a bus during the vote stopped them from casting their ballot.
Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, Laura Gillen of New York and Julia Brownley of California all blamed the traffic, with Brownley claiming Johnson closed the vote before they could arrive.
Another California Congressman, Lou Correa, said he was missing votes due to undergoing a medical procedure and said he was staying home ‘on my doctor’s advice.’
Congressmembers Haley Stevens, Steven Horsford, Marilyn Strickland and Frederica Wilson have given no public explanation for their absences.
Stevens is a lame duck after a failed run for Senate, Wilson is retiring at the end of this Congress.
Massie reacts following a procedural vote held by the US House of Representatives on whether to send the potential impeachment of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to committee
‘I don’t know why people weren’t here. Someone may have a health issue. I don’t know. But obviously, having a vote like that on attendance is hard. That hurts,’ said Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Massie’s eight articles of impeachment accuse Hegseth of waging war in Iran without congressional authorization, ignoring laws intended to minimize civilian casualties and illegally directing the seizure of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Donald Trump celebrated the vote on his Truth Social feed Monday night, calling it an ‘exoneration’ of Hegseth.
‘The Democrats’ attempt to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has miserably FAILED! Every single Republican, except Thomas Massie, a major LOSER, voted in favor of Pete,’ he wrote.
‘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. The Democrats continue to weaponize and abuse the United States of America. They must be stopped!’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Congressman Massie for comment.
The resolution now goes to the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee, which can take it up or leave it untouched, allowing the impeachment push to stall without a vote on the charges.
But the reprieve could be short-lived as Democrats are set to take control of Congress on January 3 and could launch a fresh impeachment effort.
Massie’s resolution will expire when the new Congress convenes, meaning another lawmaker would have to reintroduce the charges.
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‘We knew that this vote was coming, so people should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote,’ said California Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove
‘You should show up and do your job,’ added Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan in an interview
Incoming House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has already backed impeaching Hegseth.
Ahead of the vote, Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins told the Daily Mail that the push was ‘1,000 percent politically motivated,’ and added that Massie was not ‘constitutionally motivated.’
‘It’s not an impeachable offense to perform perfect military operations precisely according to the orders of the Commander in Chief,’ Higgins said.
Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett told the Daily Mail that ‘no crimes were committed’ by Hegseth. He also noted that when lawmakers were briefed on the strikes on Venezuelan drug boats, ‘nobody complained.’
Hegseth told the press in a rare briefing held at the Pentagon Tuesday morning that he was not afraid of the move to impeach him underway on Capitol Hill.
‘What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it’s not accountability,’ Hegseth stated at the beginning of his remarks, adding, ‘It’s a political spectacle.’
‘That’s what it is: policy disagreements, not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause.’
On Monday afternoon, Massie took to the floor of the House of Representatives to read out a 34-page impeachment resolution against Hegseth.
US Representative Melanie Stansbury said traffic entering the Capitol due to a police escort for a bus during the vote stopped them from casting their ballot
The anti-Trump Kentucky Republican also called out Hegseth for severely limiting press access at the Pentagon.
No Democrat has publicly said they are against backing a resolution introduced by Massie to impeach Hegseth.
With 214 Democrats seated in the House, the party needed only three more Republicans to join them in the impeachment vote. Massie is one, so at least two more Republicans need to turn.
Hegseth has also called Massie ‘a disgruntled, defeated congressman’ and accused him of dropping ‘sham articles of impeachment.’
There were signs that Hegseth’s red wall of defense could have cracked beyond Massie.
Kentucky Republican James Comer, a staunch Trump ally who currently serves as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, believes that the votes to impeach Hegseth may be present in the House this week, but did not commit to a vote himself.
‘We really didn’t know how to message what the exit strategy was, because I don’t think anybody in Congress knows what the exit strategy is,’ Comer told Newsmax before noting the following on an impeachment vote.
Arkansas Republican French Hill, who hails from a deep red district but only won his race last week by 4,405 votes, told CBS News that he wants to ‘hear the debate’ on impeaching Hegseth.
President Trump has stood behind Hegseth amid the attempt to impeach him
‘I want to hear the debate on it to see if it merits impeachment versus some other disciplinary action or action by the president if he’s not getting the job done in leading the Department of War. That’s the issue,’ Hill told CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan on Face The Nation on Sunday.
‘If he’s not conducting his mission in the right way, then the president ought to make a change there.’
Jeffries was fully backing Massie’s impeachment resolution.
‘I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution,’ Jeffries told ABC This Week anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday.
‘The so-called Secretary of Defense has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe,’ the top House Democrat continued, before adding, ‘Pete Hegseth has got to go.’
Massie has blasted Hegseth for committing ‘high crimes and misdemeanors,’ and for continuing to carry out military actions in Iran despite Congress never formally declaring a conflict in the region.
Massie’s introduction of a privileged resolution forced a vote on the matter by using a procedural move that allows issues to bypass the committee process.
He used a similar method to force a vote on the release of the Epstein Files last year, rejecting pressure from GOP leadership to kill his transparency campaign. Massie has also said he would only drop the current impeachment push if Hegseth resigns.
A simple majority was needed in the House to pass an impeachment resolution, but a two-thirds vote is required in the Senate to convict in a trial.
Trump has stood by his Pentagon chief, telling CBS News in a 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday that he has confidence in Hegseth.