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Most of America bemoans political gridlock in the nation’s capital. DC area commuters deplore the city’s transit gridlock.
But Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth may now be a fan of DC’s legendary traffic snarls. It appears that crosstown traffic may have prevented him from becoming only the third Cabinet secretary ever impeached by the House of Representatives.
The House voted 211-204 this week to divert an effort by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to impeach Hegseth.
House Republicans moved to block a straight, up-or-down vote on impeachment.
Instead, Republicans forced a vote on sending the articles to the Judiciary Committee.
That’s where they’d go to die. If the House failed to sidetrack the articles, Members would have then voted on actual impeachment.
If a simple majority voted to impeach, Hegseth would join 19th century Secretary of War William Belknap and former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as the only Cabinet Members impeached by the House.
But DC’s streetside congestion altered the parliamentary traffic on the House floor.
All Democrats said they were intent on impeaching Hegseth.
But Republicans faced an attendance problem.
Seven of their Members were missing. The vote on sending the impeachment articles to committee was tight. The tally read 204-204 at one point.
By rule, tie votes fail. That would have compelled a vote on actual impeachment. But a few more Republicans trickled in. The absent Democrats never did. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) presided over the vote.
He gaveled it closed at 211 yeas to send the articles to the committee and 204 votes against.
That was it. The Hegseth impeachment quest was dead. Eleven Democrats missed the roll call.
It’s about the math.
Flip four votes and Hegseth would have been impeached, 208-207.
HEGSETH IMPEACHMENT VOTE LOOMS AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS PRIVATELY WARN IT COULD PASS
And, had all 11 truant Democrats made it to the U.S. Capitol and voted, it’s likely the House would have impeached Hegseth 215-211. Even eight Democrats would have made it 212-211.
However, thanks to the Democrats’ attendance issue, Republicans were able to tap the brakes on the impeachment interstate.
The failure to impeach Hegseth is now fueling road rage in the Democratic Party.
“Shame on them for not showing up,” said Rep.-elect Richard Ojeda (D-N.C.).
“I don’t make excuses for colleagues who don’t show up on such an important vote,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.).
Democrats can’t beat Republicans if they can’t beat the traffic.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) is one of the most outspoken Democrats when it comes to her disdain for Hegseth.
But Stansbury grew defensive when questioned by colleague Bill Melugin about missing the vote.
“I was trapped right there at that street corner because there was a police motorcade moving busses off of the campus. And I physically was trapped right at that corner in my vehicle, in traffic because the police had shut down traffic,” said Stansbury.
“Why not come here sooner, though?” followed up Melugin.
HEGSETH COULD FACE NEW IMPEACHMENT PUSH OVER UKRAINE AID, LAWMAKERS WARN
“I did and I was trapped in my vehicle because of a police motorcade,” said Stansbury.
Maybe. Maybe not.
The Constitution’s “Speech or Debate” clause exempts lawmakers from police interference when “going to and from” the Capitol for “their attendance at the Session of their Respective Houses.” It’s kind of like diplomatic immunity.
A few years ago, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) was supposed to preside over a brief House session in the middle of a recess. Traffic heading into DC from Northern Virginia was stopped because of an incident. Beyer was the only Member scheduled to be present in the House chamber that day. So Beyer identified himself to a police officer who proceeded to let him through.
Over the years, other lawmakers have asserted the Speech or Debate clause as a reason to bypass unrelated police activity and get to Capitol Hill.
Reps. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) and Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.) also said they were stuck in traffic. However, Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) was out for a medical procedure. Rep. Steve Horsford (D-Nev.) missed the vote because of a personal emergency. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was in the Golden State.
DC’s traffic interfered with parliamentary traffic again on Thursday morning.
The House took an early Thursday morning vote related to a veterans bill.
The House adopted the motion, 271-135. But the House gaveled down the vote with 26 Members absent. The reason? Some Members were again stymied from making it to the Capitol.
Emergency room physician Matt Lambert killed one person at a gym, shot six people and engaged in a standoff with cops before turning the gun on himself. Initially reported as an “active shooter” incident, District of Columbia police locked down major parts of the city, stalling traffic.
And that’s why some lawmakers missed Thursday’s roll call. They were marooned in traffic.
Shifting gears, Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.) in fact made that procedural vote on the floor. When the vote began, a gentle breeze blew across the Capitol plaza. Then a mist enveloped the Capitol.
Later, a few heavier drops. Then the sun broke through the clouds. But reverted to overcast. It was a dank morning in Washington.
“I want to know what the weather is,” yours truly shouted at Sorensen as he skipped down the House steps toward a group of reporters waiting below.
Sorensen is a meteorologist who worked for decades at TV stations in Texas and Illinois before coming to Washington in 2023.
Sorensen pivoted immediately into weatherman mode.
“We’ve got increasing showers guys. Much cooler temperatures for the weekend,” said Sorensen, replicating the precise forecast for Washington, DC over the next few days.
The meteorologist-turned-lawmaker gestured to his right as though looking at a phantom map of the Midwest, projected against a green screen in a TV studio.
“As God is my witness, I cannot talk about the weather without moving my hands,” said Sorensen. “I talk about high pressure. It’s high pressure right here in the midsection of the country. And it’s moving in our direction for the next week.”
After the election, the political weather forecast would seem good for Democrats right now. Supposedly balmy days and comfortable nights. A political “high”, if you will.
“So is there a high-pressure system moving here for the Democratic Caucus?” yours truly asked.
“No. It’s low pressure, man. It’s low pressure going into the next Congress. We’ve just got to keep everybody together,” he replied.
But is a high-pressure system really in the long-range forecast for Democrats? Or will a political “low” bring storms and atmospheric volatility — especially if progressive and centrist Democrats tangle with one another?
“I thought high pressure was a good thing,” said your trusty reporter. “No subtropical systems coming in. No clipper system.”
“As a meteorologist, I’m not in production. I’m in promotion,” said Sorensen of potential Democratic storm systems which might emerge on the horizon. “With a complicated issue like the weather, I was able to help connect with people every day for 22 years. But here, this is the most complicated mechanism in the United States. We’ve got to get better at communicating what we do for the people.”
DC traffic has already stymied Democrats over the past few days. Tornadic political storm systems may brew inside the Democratic Caucus. And that’s to say nothing about transportation and just getting people to the Hill.
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Traffic and weather. And if the internal Democratic fisticuffs turn ugly, well, may show that on sports. Right along with the hockey fights.
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