Hegseth was on the verge of impeachment... 11 US Democrats, including Pelosi, did not participate in the vote

The Democratic Party, which won a landslide victory in the U.S. midterm elections, promised to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, but the vote ended in vain as 11 people did not attend the vote.

According to US political media outlets The Hill and CNN on the 11th (local time), the previous day, the US House of Representatives passed a motion to refer Hegseth's impeachment bill to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee rather than the plenary session.

There were 211 votes in favor and 204 votes against. By blocking a vote in the plenary session and sending it to the Judiciary and Judiciary Committee, which is currently controlled by the Republican Party, the impeachment bill was effectively abolished.

It was confirmed that there were 11 Democratic Party members and 7 Republican Party members who did not attend the vote. If all 11 Democratic Party members who were absent attended the meeting and voted against it, the motion would be rejected and the motion to impeach Minister Hegseth could proceed to a vote in the plenary session.

The list of absentees included Rep. Nancy Pelosi (California), a former Speaker of the House of Representatives who is retiring from politics after the 119th Congress, and Rep. Marilyn Strickland (Washington), who is of Korean descent.

Reps. Melanie Stansbury (New Mexico), Julia Brownlee (California), Lou Correa (California), Laura Gillan (California), Stephen Horsford (Nevada), Jonathan Jackson (Illinois), Brittany Peterson (Colorado), Haley Stevenson (Michigan), and Frederica Wilson (Florida) also did not attend.

Former House Speaker Pelosi did not participate in the vote because she was attending a Veterans Day event in San Francisco.

Some lawmakers explained that they were unable to attend because the road was blocked due to a traffic accident that occurred near the Capitol in Washington, DC.

Representative Stansbury said that there was a delay due to a traffic accident, and when he arrived, the vote had already been completed. Representative Strickland explained that he was unable to attend the vote by one minute due to traffic congestion and that he would have voted against it if he had attended.

There were voices of dissatisfaction within the Democratic Party about those who did not attend.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York) said, “The people sent us here to do our jobs,” and added, “We have to show up and do our jobs.”

CNN pointed out that the motion to impeach Secretary Hegseth was defeated by 7 votes and that "the absence of 11 Democratic lawmakers was one of the factors behind the Republican Party's victory."