Absences of 11 Democrats Help Block Impeachment Bid Against US Defence Secretary Hegseth

The US House of Representatives has blocked an effort to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The move gave the Trump administration a surprise reprieve. Republicans are still reeling from their midterm election defeat.

The House voted 211 to 204 on Tuesday to send the articles of impeachment back to the House Judiciary Committee. The committee can keep them there indefinitely. The result turned on the absence of 11 Democratic lawmakers, whose missing votes proved decisive.

Several of the absent Democrats offered reasons. Marilyn Strickland, Jonathan Jackson, Melanie Stansbury, and Laura Gillen blamed a traffic delay in Washington, DC. 

Nancy Pelosi said she was in California for a veterans event. Lou Correa was in his home state ahead of a health procedure. Steven Horsford's office cited a personal emergency.

Brittany Pettersen helped introduce the articles against Hegseth in April. She said she had been denied the chance to vote on the motion but did not explain further. Jackson, Stansbury, Gillen, Strickland, Horsford, Pelosi, and Pettersen all said they would have opposed the motion.

Jackson and Stansbury also formally recorded their opposition in the Congressional Record. That record does not alter the official tally.

Haley Stevens, Julia Brownley, and Frederica Wilson did not comment on their absences.