Pelosi Among 11 Democrats Who Missed the Hegseth Impeachment Vote, and a Colleague Fumes Over Their ‘Raggedy Selves’
Eleven House Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), did not vote Tuesday as Republicans sent Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to committee, the House Clerk’s roll call shows.
The motion to refer the resolution to the Judiciary Committee passed 211-204, effectively killing the impeachment push in the current Congress, the Washington Examiner reported. Massie was the only Republican to vote against it.
The Democratic absences outnumbered the seven-vote margin. Had all 11 voted no, the motion would have failed 215-211 and kept the impeachment effort alive, The Washington Sun reported.
Seven Republicans also missed the vote, and the measure would still have been blocked had every member voted along party lines, the New York Post reported. The full tally was recorded by the House Clerk.
Traffic, a Motorcade and a Veterans Award
Reps. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) blamed a traffic incident and a police-escorted bus for keeping them from the floor, The Washington Sun reported.
“While en route to the floor to oppose that motion, a traffic incident and a police-escorted bus caused a delay that resulted in the vote closing,” Jackson said in a statement to The Sun.
Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) “was stuck behind a motorcade and missed the vote by 1 minute,” her chief of staff, Andrew Noh, told The Sun, adding that she would have voted against the motion.
Pelosi was in San Francisco for Swords to Plowshares’ 30th Annual Veterans Day Celebration, where she was receiving a Lifetime Advocate for Veterans Award, spokesman Ian Krager told The Sun.
“She supports impeaching Secretary Hegseth and would have voted ‘No’ on the motion to refer,” Krager said. Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) was home ahead of a medical procedure.
Correa did not say how he would have voted. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) missed the vote because of a personal emergency and would have opposed the motion, his office told The Sun.
The other absent Democrats were Reps. Haley Stevens of Michigan, Julia Brownley of California, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado and Frederica Wilson of Florida, Newsweek reported, none of whom gave a public explanation in that coverage.
‘Shameful’
“We knew that this vote was coming, so people should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) told reporters.
“There is no reason why we should have lost this vote because of attendance issues,” Kamlager-Dove said. “Shame on folks who are not here. … Shameful.”
A senior Democratic aide disputed that the stranded members would have changed the outcome, arguing Republicans closed the vote knowing more members were en route, The Washington Sun reported.
The absences lit up the left online. One profane post on X asking why 11 Democrats missed the vote drew more than 400,000 views and blamed Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
Members who miss a vote can enter statements saying how they would have voted, but those statements do not change the official tally, Newsweek noted.
President Donald Trump celebrated on Truth Social, writing that the attempt “has miserably FAILED” and calling Massie “a major LOSER,” the New York Post reported.
Jeffries called himself a “hard yes” on the resolution and suggested Democrats could try again when they take the House in January, the Post reported. Massie lost his primary to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein.
Content created by Conservative Daily News and some content syndicated through CDN is available for re-publication without charge under the Creative Commons license. Visit our syndication page for details and requirements.
