President Trump publicly backed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, hours after the House killed an impeachment push that would have removed one of the most consequential members of his Cabinet — and the people who wanted him gone couldn't even be bothered to show up.
This was the establishment's shot at taking down a Pentagon chief who has actually prioritized warfighters over Washington's social engineering projects. They missed — barely.
The House voted 211-204 on Tuesday to refer eight articles of impeachment introduced by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky to the Judiciary Committee, effectively killing the effort for now. Massie accused Hegseth of waging war against Iran without congressional authorization, ordering strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels, participating in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and retaliating against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over his public statements about military orders, according to Newsweek.
Here is the remarkable part: eleven Democrats did not vote. Had all eleven voted against the referral, it would have failed. The margin was that thin.
TMZ reported that one of those absentees, Rep. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, was literally standing on the Capitol steps filming a social media video roughly five minutes before the vote closed at 6:02 PM. A witness identified as Charlie confronted Jackson the next day. Jackson called his own absence "inexcusable" but stressed it was "only a procedural vote" — and conceded, "I wish I could answer you in any more detail." The video Jackson was filming was never posted.
Jackson had earlier insisted Democrats couldn't afford to wait until the new Congress to impeach Hegseth. Actions speak louder.
At Arlington on Wednesday, Trump made clear where he stands. "He's done a fantastic job, and he loves you and he protects you. He's all about you," Trump said of Hegseth, who appeared to mouth "Thank you." Shouts of "Go Pete!" rang from the audience as Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Hegseth departed the ceremony.
The impeachment fight isn't necessarily over. Democrats take control of the House in January, and Newsweek notes a renewed push is likely. But Tuesday's vote exposed the gap between the uniparty's rhetoric and its competence: when the moment came to deliver, the opposition was busy making content on the steps of the Capitol.
The open question is whether a Democratic-controlled House will have any more appetite for accountability than the members who couldn't walk a few dozen feet to the floor — or whether this was always theater.
