Eleven House Democrats are facing criticism from fellow party members after missing a procedural vote that allowed Republicans to stall an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The House voted 211-204 on Tuesday (November 10) to refer eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee. The motion passed after 11 Democrats did not vote, while seven Republicans were also absent.
Had the 11 Democrats voted against the motion, it would have failed, allowing the impeachment effort to move forward.
The 11 Democrats who missed the vote, according to Newsweek, were Reps. Julia Brownley, Lou Correa and Nancy Pelosi of California; Laura Gillen of New York; Steven Horsford of Nevada; Jonathan Jackson of Illinois; Brittany Pettersen of Colorado; Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico; Haley Stevens of Michigan; Marilyn Strickland of Washington; and Frederica Wilson of Florida.
Several lawmakers provided explanations for their absences. Reps. Laura Gillen, Jonathan Jackson, Melanie Stansbury and Marilyn Strickland cited traffic delays near the Capitol that prevented them from reaching the House chamber before the vote closed.
Stansbury's office said a traffic incident and a police-escorted bus blocked access to the Capitol. She arrived after the vote had closed and subsequently filed a statement in the Congressional Record indicating she opposed the motion.
Pelosi was attending a Veterans Day event in California, while Correa was undergoing a medical procedure. Horsford's office cited a personal emergency.
Pettersen said she was denied the opportunity to vote on the motion but did not provide further details. Brownley, Stevens and Wilson had not publicly explained their absences at the time of reporting.
Former Rep. Richard Ojeda criticized the Democrats who missed the vote, telling CNN they passed up an opportunity to advance the impeachment effort.
“I say shame on them for not showing up. They had an opportunity to finally get rid of this buffoonery that we have and they failed. So you know what? I think the 120th Congress, we'll take that up,” Ojeda said.
Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed also criticized the lawmakers in comments during a CNN interview, when asked what he would say to his new colleagues.
“You should show up and do your job,” El-Sayed responded.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told CNN that lawmakers have a responsibility to show up, while acknowledging some may have had legitimate reasons for missing the vote.
“The people send us here to do a job. I don't know if anyone had any real health issues or anything significant. So I want to leave room for that,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“But that being said, at the end of the day, we're here to do a job. And the same way I had to clock in when I worked at a restaurant, we got to clock in and do our work here.”
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) criticized her colleagues during an interview with MeidasTouch.
“We knew that this vote was coming, so people should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote,” Kamlager-Dove said. “There is no reason why we should have lost this vote because of attendance issues.”
“So shame on folks who are not here,” she added.
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