The United States House of Representatives has blocked an attempt to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a surprise reprieve for President Donald Trump’s administration as Republicans reel from their midterm election defeat.
asserted
Republicans → block → defeat
The impeachment articles were introduced by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, but the effort was backed primarily by Democrats.
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effort → introduce → Democrats
They accuse Hegseth of abuses of power and conducting illegal military operations.
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They → accuse → operations
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congressman → stop → Hegseth
The Republican-led House voted 211-204 on Tuesday to refer the articles back to the House Judiciary Committee, where they could remain indefinitely.
uncertain
they → lead → Committee
The procedural move in effect killed the impeachment drive for the duration of the current Congress’s term, which ends in eight weeks.
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which → kill → weeks
On January 3, Democrats will take control of the House and Senate.
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Democrats → take → House
In a twist, the absence of 11 Democratic lawmakers during the vote proved decisive.
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absence → prove → vote
Here’s what to know about the vote to block Hegseth’s impeachment and what could happen next:
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what → know → impeachment
The vote was not on whether to impeach Hegseth.
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vote → impeach → Hegseth
It was on whether to refer the articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee, where they may be further investigated or amended.
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they → refer → Committee
Such procedural moves are often used as stalling tactics.
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moves → use → tactics
With the current Congress due to conclude soon, the resolution is unlikely to return to the House floor before its term ends.
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term → conclude → floor
Massie called the vote “a procedural motion to kill the resolution”.
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Massie → call → resolution
It narrowly passed 211-204.
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It → pass → ?
Massie was the sole Republican to oppose the measure.
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Massie → oppose → measure
The remaining votes fell along party lines with Republicans supporting the measure and Democrats opposing it.
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Democrats → remain → it
Had the Democrats shown up and voted with their colleagues, they would have had the numbers to defeat the procedural move, forcing a full House vote on whether to impeach Hegseth as early as this week.
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they → show → week
Trump cheered the result of Tuesday’s vote in a social media post, saying the Democrats’ impeachment effort had “miserably FAILED!”
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effort → cheer → post
Who were the 11 absent Democrats, and why did they miss the vote?
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they → miss → vote
The Democrats absent from the vote were:
- Julia Brownley (California)
- Lou Correa (California)
- Nancy Pelosi (California)
- Laura Gillen (New York)
- Steven Horsford (Nevada)
- Jonathan Jackson (Illinois)
- Brittany Pettersen (Colorado)
- Melanie Stansbury (New Mexico)
- Haley Stevens (Michigan)
- Marilyn Strickland (Washington)
- Frederica Wilson (Florida)
The representatives have given varying explanations for why they did not show up.
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they → give → explanations
Strickland, Jackson, Stansbury and Gillen all blamed a traffic delay in Washington, DC.
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Strickland → blame → DC
Pelosi said she was in her home state for a veterans event while Correa said he was in California before undergoing a health procedure.
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he → say → procedure
Horsford’s office cited a personal emergency.
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office → cite → emergency
Pettersen, who said she helped introduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth in April, said she had been “denied the ability to vote on this motion” without elaborating.
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she → say → motion
Jackson, Stansbury, Gillen, Strickland, Horsford, Pelosi and Pettersen all said they would have joined their Democratic colleagues in opposing the measure.
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they → say → measure
Jackson and Stansbury also said they had formally recorded their opposition in the Congressional Record although this does not change the official vote count.
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this → say → count
Stevens previously criticised the Trump administration for launching the war on Iran with Israel and sought more congressional oversight.
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Stevens → criticise → oversight
But days before the US midterm elections on November 3, the Michigan congresswoman, who had lost the Democratic primary for the state’s open Senate seat earlier to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers against her own party’s nominee.
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who → lose → nominee
Wilson, 83, on Monday attended the groundbreaking for a housing project in Miami-Dade County.
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Wilson → attend → County
Wilson and Brownley, like Stevens, previously opposed Trump’s handling of the war on Iran and demanded the administration seek congressional approval for the fighting.
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administration → oppose → fighting
Democratic politicians and progressive commentators have expressed outrage that poor attendance from Democrats impacted the outcome of the vote.
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attendance → express → vote
Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove from California said: “We knew that this vote was coming, so people should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote.”
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people → say → steps
“There is no reason why we should have lost this vote because of attendance issues,” she added.
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she → be → issues
Senator-elect El-Sayed, responding to a question about the absent Democrats, said: “You should show up and do your job.”
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You → respond → job
Some pundits pointed the finger at Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become the new speaker of the House in January.
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who → point → January
They accused him of failing to exert sufficient pressure on party members to defeat the measure.
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They → accuse → measure
Political commentator Krystal Ball called the vote “a major Hakeem Jeffries fail”.
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Ball → call → vote
“You could have impeached the war criminal Pete Hegseth but Dems didn’t show up to vote,” she said.
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she → impeach → criminal
Progressive writer Laura Bassett said: “Jeffries didn’t even whip the vote.
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Jeffries → say → vote
…and 12 more, not listed.
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