Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on Tuesday that “there are so many criminals in this administration” that choosing whom Democrats should go after first is difficult, and she expects a flurry of investigations and subpoenas once her party wins control of the House of Representatives in January.
The New York Democrat was speaking to reporters ahead of the House vote on a GOP effort to block articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. One reporter asked whether, if this impeachment vote fails, Democrats should impeach Hegseth in the new Congress.
“There are so many criminals in this administration,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s hard to figure out who should be, you know, the order of operations.”
“There are going to be many, many, many investigations,” she continued. “I imagine many subpoenas, and we have to follow wherever the evidence takes us.”
Addressing the vote that is currently being held, she added, “And so we are dealing with this scenario right now. I’m going to vote right now to make sure that we get a win.”
That victory was not achieved. The House voted 211 to 204 to refer an impeachment resolution, introduced by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, to the House Judiciary Committee. This vote kills the bill for the rest of the session, when Republicans hold the House majority.
Massie was the only Republican voting against the referral, alongside all Democrats.
Massie reintroduced the eight articles of impeachment on Monday, alleging the Defense Secretary of high crimes and misdemeanors, including war crimes in the context of the Iran war, which he claims was declared without Congress’ approval, and U.S. airstrikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
This is Massie’s second attempt. The previous one took place in September, when Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the House early for campaigning, and the resolution expired. Massie lost his primary election this year to a candidate supported by former President Donald Trump and will leave Congress in January.
Earlier on Tuesday, during the Pentagon press briefing, Hegseth called the efforts to impeach him “a political spectacle.” Johnson promised to defeat the resolution.
The situation will change in January. Democrats will become the majority in the House after winning the midterms on Nov. 3. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, expected to become the next Speaker, said he would vote for the impeachment. Democrats are preparing several investigations into the President and members of his administration.
Ocasio-Cortez did not name any specific officials in her remarks.
