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House Democrats have voiced their frustration after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth managed to escape impeachment Tuesday, lashing out at their colleagues who were not present for a key vote on his future.
Rebel Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie had filed articles of impeachment against Hegseth Monday, accusing him of “high crimes and misdemeanors” for waging the war with Iran without first securing congressional approval and of carrying out extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean by bombing alleged drug boats.
However, with the chamber’s GOP majority still in place until January, the House voted 211-204 to pass the matter onto the Republican-led Judiciary Committee, where it is all but certain to languish – at least until the new year, when the Democrat-led 120th Congress is sworn in.
While the outcome represented a huge relief for the secretary and a much-needed win for President Donald Trump, who was quick to crow about it on Truth Social, the opposition was left to rue the 11 absent members of its caucus who might have made the difference.
Speaking on the steps of the Capitol to CNN reporter Manu Raju immediately after the vote, a clearly frustrated New York Democratic Rep.
