Why Did the Hegseth Impeachment Fail? 11 Absent Democrats and a 211-204 Vote

The House voted 211-204 this week to send articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee, ending the effort for now, according to Fox News. Eleven Democrats missed the roll call, and NPR reported that the attempt would have gone forward had they been present and no more Republicans had shown up.

Here is how the vote worked and what the outcome means.

What exactly did the House vote on?

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, led the effort to impeach Hegseth. Republican leaders did not allow a straight up-or-down vote on impeachment. Instead, they forced a vote on sending the articles to the Judiciary Committee, which Fox News described as the place where such measures go to die.

Had the House refused to send the articles to committee, members would have voted on impeachment itself. A simple majority would have been enough to impeach Hegseth, Fox News reported. That would have made him only the third Cabinet member impeached by the House, after War Secretary William Belknap in the 19th century and former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

How close was the count?

Fox News said seven Republicans were missing when the vote began, and the tally stood at 204-204 at one point. Tie votes fail, which would have forced the impeachment vote. A few more Republicans then arrived, but the absent Democrats did not. Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Washington Republican, presided and closed the vote at 211 to 204.

Fox News laid out the arithmetic this way:

Flipping four votes would have produced an impeachment vote of 208-207.
If all 11 absent Democrats had voted, the House would likely have impeached Hegseth 215-211.
Even eight of them would have made it 212-211.

NPR noted that only one Republican, Massie, backed the impeachment effort.

Why were the Democrats absent?

Reasons varied, according to Fox News. Reps. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois and Laura Gillen of New York said they were stuck in traffic. Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said a police motorcade shutting down a street trapped her car at a corner. Rep. Lou Correa of California was out for a medical procedure, and Rep. Steve Horsford of Nevada missed the vote because of a personal emergency.

NPR reported that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, was also among the 11 because she had flown back to San Francisco for a veterans' event.

Some Democrats criticized their colleagues. Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts said he does not make excuses for members who skip such an important vote, and Rep.-elect Richard Ojeda of North Carolina said they should be ashamed of not showing up, Fox News reported.

What does this mean for Democrats and for Hegseth?

NPR described the episode as the first post-election test of Democrats' ability to get things done, and a failed one. The network said the outcome may have strengthened Hegseth's standing in the administration, with the White House and Republicans rallying around him. Democrats are not yet in the majority, NPR noted, and Republicans still control the floor.

The vote also raises a question about priorities. A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken after the election, cited by NPR, found that 8-in-10 people think Democrats should focus on the cost of living in their first 100 days. Only 40% said investigating the Trump administration should be a priority, though 71% of Democrats said so, compared with 36% of independents. On impeaching Trump, 33% overall said it would be good for the country.

Asked on PBS NewsHour whether Democrats would impeach more Trump officials, Hakeem Jeffries said, “We will cross that bridge when we get to it.” He also said Democrats are committed to driving down the high cost of living in areas such as housing, health care, groceries and gas, NPR reported.

What happens next?

Because the articles went to the Judiciary Committee, there will be no floor vote on impeaching Hegseth for now. NPR said Democrats face a balancing act between oversight of the Trump administration and the affordability agenda voters gave them a mandate on. Neither outlet reported a date for any further action on Hegseth.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Fox News, NPR

Cover photo: U.S. Department of Defense / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

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