Democratic lawmakers expressed outrage at nearly a dozen of their colleagues for missing a vote Tuesday evening to impeach the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, allowing Republicans to squash the effort.
asserted
Republicans → express → effort
Eleven Democrats missed the key procedural vote on the impeachment effort, which failed by just seven votes.
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which → miss → votes
Some blamed traffic and conflicting events and others accused Speaker Mike Johnson of closing the vote early.
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others → blame → vote
Many of those not in the Capitol said they support the effort to impeach Hegseth.
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they → say → Hegseth
“You should show up and do your job,” Abdul El-Sayed, the senator-elect of Michigan, said on CNN to the Democratic lawmakers Tuesday.
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Sayed → show → lawmakers
Richard Ojeda, the representative-elect of North Carolina, told CNN that the Democratic representatives “failed” by not voting.
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representatives → tell → CNN
“Shame on them for not showing up,” Ojeda said on Tuesday.
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Ojeda → show → Tuesday
“I mean, this is important … they had an opportunity to finally get rid of this buffoonery we had.”
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we → mean → buffoonery
The missing Democrats gave House Republicans the numbers to shelve the impeachment effort by voting 211 – 204 to refer eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth to a House committee.
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Democrats → miss → committee
The articles, introduced by Republican Thomas Massie, included charges of violating congressional authority by waging war in Iran.
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articles → introduce → Iran
The effort came after voters overwhelming cast ballots for Democratic candidates in the 2026 midterms, largely in rebuke of the Trump administration’s policies – including the war in Iran.
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voters → come → Iran
Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a representative from California, told MeidasTouch there was “no reason why we should have lost this vote because of attendance issues”.
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we → tell → issues
“This is what the people have been talking about … so shame on folks who were not here because these people lost,” Kamlager-Dove added.
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Dove → talk → folks
Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico wrote on X that she was “blocked from entering the Capitol to vote due to a traffic incident and a police escort of a bus during the vote”.
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she → write → vote
“When she reached the chamber the vote had just gaveled out. She immediately filed a report of her vote of ‘NO’ to the motion meant to kill the impeachment articles and refer them to the Judiciary Committee, as documented in the Congressional Record,” Stansbury wrote, adding that Hegseth “must be impeached now”.
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Hegseth → reach → Record
Laura Gillen of New York similarly wrote on X she too was stuck in traffic but “strongly” believes Hegseth should be impeached.
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Hegseth → write → traffic
Jonathan Jackson, of Illinois, wrote on X that he also was stuck behind the traffic jam.
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he → write → jam
Brittany Pettersen of California wrote on X that she was “denied” the ability to vote.
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she → write → ability
Member of Pettersen’s office later told 9News she too was stuck in traffic.
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she → tell → traffic
Julia Brownley of California wrote on Facebook that Johnson “closed the vote” before she could make it to the House floor.
“As I and many of my colleagues were rushing to the floor to support Hegseth’s impeachment, Mike Johnson closed the vote before we could,” Brownley wrote.
uncertain
Brownley → write → vote
Marilyn Strickland of Washington also missed the vote by one minute because she was stuck behind a motocade, but that she would have voted to impeach Hegseth, Strickland’s office told Politico.
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office → miss → Politico
Nancy Pelosi of California missed the vote because she was in San Francisco to meet with local veterans and accept a Lifetime Advocate for Veterans Award, Pelosi’s spokesperson told SFGate
Lou Correa of California wrote on Instagram that he was undergoing a medical procedure and remaining in his district until he was medically cleared.
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he → miss → district
Steven Horsford of Nevada, Haley Stevens of Michigan and Frederica Wilson of Florida did not provide public reasons for their absence on Tuesday.
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Horsford → provide → Tuesday
Several Democratic lawmakers who did vote on the effort to impeach Hegseth noted that they were also busy with other life events but still made their way to the Capitol.
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they → vote → Capitol
Pat Ryan of New York wrote on X that he was recovering from back surgery but left the hospital early in order to cast his vote.
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he → write → vote
The Aporia
