WA Congresswoman sorry for missing Hegseth impeachment vote

A Washington state Democratic congresswoman is apologizing  for getting caught in traffic and arriving one minute late for a vote that could have set in motion an impeachment attempt of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“I take full responsibility for not being there to vote,” U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Pierce County, told a Seattle television reporter on Wednesday. Strickland represents the 10th Congressional District that includes parts of Pierce and Thurston counties, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

“We have one job that is to show up and vote. Motorcade. Traffic jam, whatever happened, I should have been there earlier,” she said. “I take full responsibility for that. It will not happen again.”

On Thursday, in a statement to the Standard, Strickland said she looks forward to next year when Democrats have control of both the House and Senate “so we can impeach Hegseth, and prevent Trump from appointing a replacement who is just as unqualified or worse.”

Strickland is one of 11 Democrats — dubbed the Hegseth 11 by detractors – who were not present when the House voted 211-204, largely along party lines, to refer articles of impeachment against Hegseth to a committee, effectively killing the impeachment effort until the end of the current Congress in January. Seven Republicans also missed the vote.

The House acted hours after Hegseth derided the bid to remove him as a “farce” and rejected the notion he had committed impeachable offenses as the top civilian leader of the military. He denounced the impeachment effort as an attack on American service members.

Rep. Thomas Massie, an outgoing Kentucky Republican, introduced articles of impeachment Monday alleging the Defense secretary waged unlawful war against Iran, ordered extrajudicial killings and ignored laws intended to minimize civilian casualties, among other charges. 

Hegseth’s opponents could try again to impeach him during the new Congress, which begins in January. Democrats will hold a large majority in the House at that time.

“Pete Hegseth is incompetent and needs to go. And if he stays, we aren’t able to impeach him and convict him of impeachment, he will not have a very good time as the secretary of defense,” U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett said Friday.

In the meantime, constituents angered by the missed vote are blasting Strickland on Reddit and other social media platforms. One posting says Olympia Visible Brigade, a progressive activist group, will have people bannering on an overpass near Strickland’s district office in Lacey. Some plan to go to the office.

According to the post, they want to know why she missed the vote and also to see who she will support  as the new House speaker. Members of the group oppose House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, getting the top job.

“We would like her to know that she’s on notice. We are paying attention, and that we expect her to do the bare minimum of showing up on time to vote,” the post reads.

A spokesman for Strickland said most of the constituents contacting her office this week are seeking assistance on their interactions with federal agencies.

Reporters Jonathan Shorman and Jake Goldstein-Street contributed to this report.