Nancy Pelosi was spotted in the Capitol. Then she allegedly leaves before the vote on Pete Hegseth to attend a ‘longstanding district tradition’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is breathing a sigh of relief Tuesday evening after the House of Representatives effectively shelved eight articles of impeachment against him over the war in Iran. The vote saved him from a damaging rebuke of the unpopular war, and he has some Democrats, including San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi, to thank for it.

Republicans called a vote Tuesday to refer the articles to the Judiciary Committee, effectively killing the impeachment for the year. The vote passed 211-204 almost entirely on party lines. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who introduced the impeachment articles, voted no alongside Democrats. However, 11 Democrats missed the Tuesday vote. This means Hegseth could still be facing impeachment if those Democrats had voted no.

Pelosi was captured in a Getty photo at the Capitol on Tuesday, but she left before the vote in order to fly to San Francisco, SF Gate reports. Her spokesperson Ian Krager explained that she left to attend a specific event. “Speaker Emerita Pelosi returned to San Francisco to join and honor local veterans at Swords to Plowshares’ 30th Annual Veterans Day Celebration tonight, an important and longstanding district tradition she regularly attends and will mark for the last time as a Member of Congress by receiving the Lifetime Advocate for Veterans Award,” Krager said in an email.

Krager added that Pelosi supports the impeachment and would have voted no on the motion to refer

Three California Democrats are among the 11 who missed the vote, including Pelosi, Orange County Rep. Lou Correa, and Ventura County Rep. Julia Brownley. Correa posted to X on Tuesday that he “vehemently” supports Hegseth’s impeachment but was forced to stay in Orange County for a medical procedure. Brownlee, who previously called on X for Hegseth to “resign immediately,” did not immediately return a media request.

It is possible House Republicans intentionally called Tuesday’s vote while certain members were away. Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico posted to X that she missed the vote, because she “was blocked from entering the Capitol to vote due a traffic incident and a police escort of a bus during the vote.”

Hegseth faced eight articles of impeachment primarily over the war. These included starting the war without congressional approval and illegally killing civilians in Iran. Hegseth called the accusations a “farce” and brought his family to Washington, D.C., as he faced the crucial vote.

If passed by the House, the impeachment charges would have gone to the Senate where he could be removed from office with a two-thirds vote. While this specific impeachment charge against Hegseth appears to be dead, he will likely face only more scrutiny next year when Democrats take over both chambers of Congress with promises to end the war in Iran and hold Hegseth accountable.