Liberal Media Blames House Dems for Blocking Hegseth Impeachment

The US House of Representatives effectively blocked Rep. Thomas Massie's (R-KY) cross-partisan effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday.

The Details: Lawmakers voted 211-204 to send the measure, which Hegseth called a "political spectacle," to the House Judiciary Committee. Massie was the only Republican to support impeachment proceedings. "Leading up to the vote, there was some speculation that Republicans who lost their seats in part thanks to the unpopularity of the war would support impeachment," National Review (Lean Right bias) reported, "but that theory did not materialize."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) responded to the outcome, "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."

Who Missed The Vote? Eleven Democratic representatives – Julia Brownley (CA), Lou Correa (CA), Laura Gillen (NY), Steven Horsford (NV), Jonathan Jackson (IL), Nancy Pelosi (CA), Brittany Pettersen (CO), Melanie Stansbury (NM), Haley Stevens (MI), Marilyn Strickland (WA) and Frederica Wilson (FL) – did not attend the vote.

Several of the absentees blamed "bumper-to-bumper" traffic on their way back from an "Elect Democratic Women" PAC event. Pelosi opted to attend a Veterans Day event in San Francisco instead. Horsford's office attributed a personal emergency, and Correa's said in advance that she had a medical procedure that would inhibit her ability to travel. Correa asserted that she still "vehemently support[ed Hegseth's] impeachment."

Republican representatives Monica De La Cruz (TX), Neal Dunn (FL), Russell Fry (SC), Julia Letlow (LA), Tom Tiffany (WI), Derrick Van Orden (WI) and Rudy Yakym III (IN) also did not attend.

How The Media Covered It: Outlets on the left of the political spectrum covered the story most prevalently, as last week's "Blue Wave" established impending Democratic control of the US Congress. Most outlets only passively mentioned Republican lawmakers' absence and honed criticism on Democrats. The New Republic (Left) asserted, "Hegseth has 11 Democratic House members to thank for tanking the nascent effort to impeach him."

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Daily Beast (Left) echoed that the Democrats expressed "a series of excuses," but it also quoted Petterson's spokesperson, who criticized, "While normally a floor vote is held open as a courtesy for the members who are near the Capitol and on their way to cast their votes, Republican leadership cynically chose to close the vote with nearly two dozen members still not voting – and just as Pettersen was reaching the chamber."

The Beast and Mediaite (Lean Left) emphasized Democrats' intra-party criticism. Mediaite said "Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) blasted her absent colleagues" and highlighted several liberal media personalities, such as Kyle Kulinski and David Shuster, who blamed Jeffries' leadership.

Newsweek (Center) similarly gave voice to newly elected Democratic officials: Senate-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) said "You should show up and do your job," and House-elect Richard Ojeda (D-NC) said, "Shame on them for not showing up."

New York Post (Right) framed its coverage around Democrats' ongoing efforts, highlighting Jeffries' "teasing that Dems could try to impeach him again." The New Republic noted calls for Jeffries to step down "for failing to unite Democrats to mount a compelling challenge against the Trump administration. Now it appears," the outlet stated, "that he couldn't even get them to all show up for one important vote."

What Allegations Does Hegseth Face? Massie filed eight impeachment measures against Hegseth on Monday: violating minimum civilian casualty laws, suppressing free speech against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), ordering "extrajudicial killings" on alleged drug boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, "kidnapping" former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, directing an "unlawful war" against the Houthis in Yemen, and violating the 1973 War Powers Resolution through the Iran War (three measures).

Hegseth responded to the allegations on Tuesday, "I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow."

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Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) led 12 additional House Democrats – including Stansbury – in filing six similar impeachment measures against Hegseth in April.

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