Democrats Miss Hegseth Impeachment Vote for 'Elect Democratic Women' Event
A group meant to send Democrats to Congress instead kept them out of the building during a close, high-stakes vote. But perhaps party leadership preferred it that way.
Members of Congress literally have one job: show up and vote. And they often can't be bothered to do it. On Tuesday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 211–204 not to have a full vote on impeaching Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, with all Republicans but the libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) voting against the impeachment.
Republican leadership had actually been expecting the impeachment to move forward and pass, Politico reports. But 11 Democrats missed the vote. According to an Axios reporter, some of them were attending a reception for a group called Elect Democratic Women. Ironically, the group was founded by House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Conn.), whose literal job is making sure members show up to vote the right way.
Democrats weren't the only ones to play hooky. Seven Republicans also failed to show up. The procedural decision to avoid a vote on specific articles of impeachment suggests that many members simply didn't want to put their stances on the record. So does the unusually large absence on both sides of the aisle (often with flimsy reasons) for a close, high-stakes vote.
Some of the absences were unavoidable. Rep. Lou Correa (D–Calif.) had warned publicly beforehand that he couldn't make it to the vote due to a medical procedure. The office of Rep. Steven Horsford (D–Nev.) said afterwards that he had to miss the vote due to an unnamed personal emergency. That made it even more important for the rest of the Democratic caucus to show up—at least, if they wanted the vote to pass.
The vote was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Elect Democratic Women reception was scheduled from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm at a restaurant that is normally a five-minute drive from the Capitol building. But there was unexpected traffic due to a police escort in the area. Four Democratic members—Laura Gillen (N.Y.), Jonathan Jackson (Ill.), Melanie Stansbury (N.M.), and Marilyn Strickland (Wash.)—all blamed the traffic for their absence.
Given the scheduling conflict and the importance of the vote, Elect Democratic Women could have rescheduled the reception. The organization did not respond to Reason's questions by email.
Meanwhile, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.) missed the vote for a prescheduled Veterans' Day event in California, her spokesman told The Washington Sun. Rep. Brittany Petersen (D–Colo.) stated that she was "denied the ability to vote on this motion" without elaborating. Democratic Reps. Julia Brownley (Calif.), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Frederica Wilson (Fla.) didn't respond to Reason's questions about their absence.
Neither did most of the absent Republicans. A spokesperson for Rep. Julia Letlow (R–La.) tells Reason that "she ran to the floor but got there too late which is why she missed the vote," and says that she would have voted to stop the impeachment. A spokesperson for Rep. Rudolph Yakym (R–Ind.) says he would've voted similarly, without explaining why he was absent.
Massie, who wrote the articles of impeachment, made Hegseth's impeachment a referendum on the Trump administration's wars, particularly the February 2026 surprise attack on Iran. The first three articles accuse Hegseth of waging war on Iran against Congress' wishes. The fourth and fifth concern the killing of civilians in Iran and the Caribbean. The sixth accuses him of attempting to "retaliate against and intimidate" Sen. Mark Kelly (D–Ariz.) for his criticism of the killings. The seventh and eighth concern the administration's undeclared wars in Venezuela and Yemen.
Voting on those specific questions may have been uncomfortable for Democratic leadership, which is notably lukewarm on the war in Iran. Although Democratic voters (and Americans in general) overwhelmingly oppose the war, party members reportedly saw it as a necessary evil that was better to saddle Republicans with. On its first day, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) stated that "Iran is a bad actor and must be aggressively confronted" while doubting President Donald Trump's ability to do so.
Stevens, a party favorite who lost her primary to upstart Abdul El-Sayed, called El-Sayed soft on Iran and endorsed the Republican candidate a few days before the general election. Asked by Reason, her office did not explain her absence from the Hegseth vote.
The vote on Hegseth also put Republican members in an awkward spot. On one hand, in the eyes of some members, Hegseth has been an incompetent manager of the war and an all-around embarrassing liability. Even the arch-hawk Sen. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) had said before the vote that "either [Hegseth] will resign voluntarily or Trump will fire him." On the other hand, Trump made support for Hegseth a symbol of personal loyalty to himself.
Still, Tuesday's non-vote was only a temporary reprieve for representatives worried about having to do their jobs. When the new Congress takes office in two months, Democrats will have a clear majority to pass articles of impeachment on parties, but not the two-thirds majority needed to convict Hegseth. Lawmakers can expect more votes where their presence matters.