Enough Republicans shielded Pete Hegseth’s impeachment on Tuesday — with more attendance than what the Democrats produced — in order to shelve Thomas Massie’s effort, effectively “sending it to committee,” where the impeachment effort is dead for now.
Republicans voted to approve a procedural move that effectively kills the Massie resolution by a 211 to 204 vote, with only one Republican, Massie of Kentucky, breaking with his party to join Democrats who opposed the effort.
There were 11 Democrats who were absent for the vote.
- Melanie Stansbury (New Mexico)
- Marilyn Strickland (Washington)
- Julia Brownley (California)
- Lou Correa (California)
- Laura Gillen (New York)
- Steven Horsford (Nevada)
- Jonathan Jackson (Illinois)
- Nancy Pelosi (California)
- Brittany Pettersen (Colorado)
- Haley Stevens (Michigan)
- Frederica Wilson (Florida)
Some of those 11 absent Democrats said they were stuck in traffic.
Nancy Pelosi said she was flying back to San Francisco for a Swords to Plowshares’ 30th Annual Veterans Day Celebration.
Steven Horsford said he had a personal emergency.
Lou Correa was undergoing a medical procedure.
Meanwhile, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is facing a lot of criticism for not producing a united Democratic effort to advance the resolution to a vote.
Jeffries told Politico, “I haven’t had a conversation with anyone on the floor team about what may or may not have happened in terms of the Hegseth resolution, but this is not the end of it. It’s just the beginning.”
Hegseth was crowing about Trump labeling the event an “EXONERATION.”
For nuanced insight about the Massie votes, this is a good discussion between Joyce Vance and Dan Goldman.
Listen to audio transcript
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