US defence minister Hegseth was ‘somehow’ saved from impeachment by traffic

Embattled US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to have been saved from impeachment thanks to a “bumper-to-bumper” traffic jam in Washington, DC that stopped several House Democrats from getting back in time to vote.

Hegseth narrowly escaped after the vote to impeach him for “high crimes and misdemeanors” over waging the war in Iran and bombing alleged drug boats in the Caribbean without congressional approval failed Tuesday night.

Some Democrats who missed the vote were on their way back from an Elect Democratic Women event about 1.5 miles away when they got stuck in a major traffic jam, according to Axios reporter Andrew Solender.

The fiasco has prompted other Democrats to lash out at their missing colleagues, while political pundits and liberal figures pointed the finger at an under-pressure House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is facing pushback in a bid for House Speaker.

There were 11 Democrats among the 18 lawmakers who did not vote, allowing the Republican majority to pass the matter on to the GOP-led Judiciary Committee, where it will likely languish until Democrats take control of Congress in January 2027. If the 11 absent Democrats had voted to send the articles of impeachment to the House floor, they would have had the numbers.

When asked by reporters about the lack of attendance, Jeffries said, “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,” according to Politico’s Riley Rogerson.

Jeffries previously said he was a “hard yes” on impeaching Hegseth, but many held him responsible for the missing lawmakers.

“This is a major Hakeem Jeffries fail,” reacted left-leaning political commentator Krystal Ball. “You could have impeached the war criminal Pete Hegseth but Dems didn't show up to vote.”

“Please pick a different Speaker, Dems. Please,” posted progressive journalist Mehdi Hasan, while political adviser Saikat Chakrabarti accused Jeffries of “throwing the floor team under the bus.” He added, “What a leader.”

Democratic Rep. Marilyn Strickland of Washington was called out for missing the vote after she previously posted that “an impeachment vote cannot come soon enough.” The congresswoman’s followers replied to her X post and asked, “Why didn’t you show up to impeach him then?”

Strickland’s chief of staff, Andrew Noh, told Politico that the congresswoman was “stuck behind a motorcade and missed the vote by 1 minute. She would have voted against the motion to refer.”

Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson of Illinois said the vote closed before he and other members could get there.

“While en route to the floor to oppose that motion, a traffic incident and a police-escorted bus caused a delay that resulted in the vote closing before I, along with other Members, could reach the chamber,” he posted on X. “I have since entered my NO vote in the Congressional Record.”

Jackson was also called out by his followers.

“Traffic isn’t a valid excuse for working Americans to clock into work late,” one replied to the congressman. “Why should it be valid for you?”

“This sounds like your “dog ate” your homework fam. Either do your job or pass the controller,” another said.

A spokesperson for Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said she was also held up by the traffic incident.

“Like other Members of Congress, Rep. Stansbury was blocked from entering the Capitol to vote due a traffic incident and a police escort of a bus during the vote,” a statement on the congresswoman’s X account said. “When she reached the chamber the vote had just gaveled out. She immediately filed a report of her vote of “NO” to the motion meant to kill the impeachment articles and refer them to the Judiciary Committee, as documented in the Congressional Record.”

Missing Democrats included Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, who was reported to be “hiding” in a Republican cloakroom Monday during another House vote after endorsing GOP candidate Mike Rogers in the midterm elections over Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed.

El-Sayed was asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins what he would say to the absent representatives. “You should show up and do your job,” he answered bluntly.

The other Democrats who did not vote were California representatives Julia Brownley, Lou Correa and Nancy Pelosi; Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, Frederica Wilson of Florida, Laura Gillen of New York and Steven Horsford of Nevada, according to the House Clerk’s office.

A frustrated New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also hit out at Democrats for missing the vote.

“The people send us here to do a job... I don’t know if anyone had any real health issues or anything significant [in] that respect, so I want to leave room for that but, that being said, at the end of the day we’re here to do a job,” she told CNN reporter Manu Raju immediately after the vote. “And the same way I had to clock in when I worked at a restaurant, we’ve got to clock in and do our work here.”