Jeffries Faces Criticism After Back-To-Back Floor Setbacks Before Democrats Take The House
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is facing criticism over back-to-back floor setbacks just as Democrats prepare to take control of the House and he seeks the speaker's gavel.
The scrutiny grew after Democrats failed Tuesday to keep Republican Rep. Thomas Massie's push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth alive, only days after Jeffries publicly called himself a "hard yes" on impeachment.
Republicans referred Massie's eight articles of impeachment to the House Judiciary Committee in a 211-204 vote, effectively sidelining the measure for the rest of the current Congress.
Eleven Democrats missed the vote, along with seven Republicans. Those absences mattered, because Democrats could potentially have defeated the Republican motion if more of their members had been there.
READ MORE: House Blocks Massie's Push to Impeach Hegseth in 211-204 Vote
'Pete Hegseth Has Got To Go'
Several Democrats were reportedly absent because of emergencies, medical issues or transportation problems, but critics questioned why party leaders failed to make sure enough lawmakers were on hand for such a closely watched vote.
Jeffries had strongly endorsed the impeachment push on Sunday. "I'm a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution," he told ABC News.
"The so-called secretary of defense has abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe," he added. "Pete Hegseth has got to go."
Massie's resolution contained eight articles accusing Hegseth of misconduct involving the Iran war and military operations in Venezuela, Yemen, the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. Jeffries had predicted "incredibly strong support" for it among House Democrats.
Hegseth rejected the allegations, calling the effort a "farce" and a "political spectacle." "None of these are high crimes or misdemeanors," he said Tuesday. "They're partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicize our military."
Jeffries said afterward that the failed vote would not end Democratic efforts against Hegseth. "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," he said. "It's just the beginning."
READ MORE: Jeffries Vows Democrats Won't Give 'a Dime' to Trump's Deportation Push
A Second Defeat
Another embarrassing floor loss followed on Wednesday. Democrats tried to defeat a Republican-backed resolution condemning antisemitism but lost after several members failed to vote.
The setbacks came at an awkward moment. House Democrats will hold leadership elections Nov. 18, when Jeffries is expected to seek his conference's nomination for speaker.
Some Democrats defended him, arguing that absences are unavoidable and that lawmakers missed votes for legitimate reasons. Others admitted the optics were damaging. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who supports Jeffries for speaker, told Axios the episode was "not a good look."
Republicans quickly seized on the failures to question whether Democrats can keep the attendance and vote discipline needed to run a closely divided House.
Jeffries pointed Thursday to a Democratic success, a discharge petition that forced action on veterans legislation over Republican leadership opposition, as proof his caucus can deliver the votes it needs.
Democrats will get another chance at Hegseth once they take control of the House in January, when they could introduce new articles and advance them without Republican help. President Donald Trump has kept defending Hegseth and said he has "every intention to keep him."