WASHINGTON — The advocacy group Demand Progress on Wednesday sharply criticized House Democratic leaders after an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth failed Tuesday evening, saying the push fell short because 11 Democrats did not vote.
According to the group, House Republicans defeated the impeachment effort, led by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. Demand Progress said the absences gave President Donald Trump a significant victory in the first major House test since last week’s midterm elections. The group’s statement did not include a vote tally.
“Today’s vote was an unacceptable failure,” said Sean Vitka, executive director of Demand Progress. “What we saw tonight was not the Democratic Party that the American people were promised.”
Vitka said Democratic leaders knew attendance would decide the outcome but did not deliver the votes, allowing Trump and Hegseth to “breathe a sigh of relief tonight.” He said the result disappointed activists who organized for impeachment and voters who turned out in large numbers in the midterms.
Demand Progress, a nonprofit that describes itself as a grassroots, nonpartisan organization, has been running a campaign in support of Massie’s impeachment effort and had sent a letter urging every House member to vote for it.
Earlier this week, Demand Progress said a coalition of more than 40 groups, including MoveOn, Oxfam America and Public Citizen, had urged House members to support all eight articles of impeachment Massie filed. According to the coalition’s letter, the articles cite the war with Iran and military strikes on fishing boats.
Under the Constitution, the House may impeach a federal official by a simple majority vote, and the Senate then holds a trial, with a two-thirds vote required to convict and remove the official from office.
This report is based on information from Demand Progress.
Source: Demand Progress
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