The Latest: Efforts to impeach Pete Hegseth are blocked by House Republicans

The House has turned aside a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his conduct in office and handling of the war against Iran, which some Republicans blame for sweeping midterm losses .

More than a dozen House and Senate races remain undetermined one week after Election Day . Democrats could have 56 Senate seats when the counting is done in Alaska and Mississippi. Democrats already have 255 seats in the House , their widest majority in decades.

And Sen. Bernie Sanders said he won’t support Sen. Chuck Schumer as majority leader. He said there needs to be a new generation of leadership and a vigorous debate about the Democratic Party’s party’s direction.

Here's the Latest:

Trump, who for years disputed his loss in the 2020 election and publicly decried the result as having been stolen from him by Democratic forces, privately lauded incoming President Joe Biden as someone he believed would “be true to yourself and the American people.”

That sentiment, along with others, was part of the letter Trump left for Biden upon leaving office in January 2021. Biden showed the note to some members of his staff after his inauguration in 2021 but didn’t let anyone read it, describing it later that day as “very generous” but otherwise saying he considered it to be private.

Inclusion of the letter in Biden’s “Promise Me, America,” his White House memoir slated for release Nov. 17, was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. The Associated Press has reviewed a photocopy of the two-page letter, handwritten in Trump’s trademark black Sharpie on White House stationery and addressed “To ‘46,’” denoting Biden’s place as the 46th U.S. president.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has won a party contest to serve as House Republican leader as the party prepares for its new role in the minority and a flurry of Democratic investigations aimed at its standard-bearer in the White House.

Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, defeated Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana in a secret-ballot election of Republicans who will serve in the next Congress. Tuesday's vote was 106-73.

Jordan, 62, co-founded the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. His candidacy appealed to those looking for new leadership in the wake of last week’s election debacle and to those who like his hard-hitting political style.

Jordan will inherit a historically small House Republican conference that is only beginning to grapple with its loss of power for Trump's final two years in office . Leading the party back to a House majority in 2028 is sure to be a stiff climb, given the scope of Democratic victories.

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Tuesday he would not be supporting Sen. Chuck Schumer as the Democratic majority leader in the new Congress, setting up a seismic confrontation after the party’s sweep to power in the midterm elections .

Sanders was joined by Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan at a news conference at the Capitol, and together called for a new generation of leadership and a vigorous debate about the party’s direction. A number of incoming Democratic senators have echoed the call, signaling that they would support another candidate over Schumer.

“The time is now for change,” said Sanders, the independent from Vermont and essentially the father of modern progressivism in the U.S. “And I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader.”

Slotkin, who said she is not actively seeking the job herself, explained that she wants potential Senate leaders to present a full plan about the new majority's priorities.

“I’m a no until and unless I see that from anyone,” she said.

The House has turned aside a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his conduct in office and handling of the war against Iran.

The vote came as Republicans grapple with the fallout from sweeping midterm losses that some in the party have blamed on the war in Iran and the resulting surge in gas prices. But after Trump signaled strong support for Hegseth, GOP lawmakers largely stood by the secretary Tuesday, blocking the effort in a near party-line vote.

The effort was led by Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and backed by Democrats. The vote Tuesday may only delay an impeachment push against Hegseth, with Democrats set to take control of the House and Senate in January.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become the next speaker when Democrats take charge in January, stood firmly behind the push, saying Hegseth has “abused his power” and “undermined America’s national security.”

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