For weeks, the impeachment of Pete Hegseth was a story. PBS NewsHour previewed it the night Congress came back. Washington Week ran a segment in October asking whether Congress would impeach him and how Trump would react. Hakeem Jeffries said he was a “hard yes.” He promised Democrats would “run Pete Hegseth out of town.”
One week after the midterms, Democrats got their chance.
On Tuesday, November 10, Republicans moved to kill the impeachment by sending Thomas Massie’s eight articles to the Republican-run Judiciary Committee, where they would die for the rest of this Congress. The House agreed, 211 to 204.
Eleven Democrats did not vote:
Julia Brownley (California)
Lou Correa (California)
Laura Gillen (New York)
Steven Horsford (Nevada)
Jonathan Jackson (Illinois)
Nancy Pelosi (California)
Brittany Pettersen (Colorado)
Melanie Stansbury (New Mexico)
Haley Stevens (Michigan)
Marilyn Strickland (Washington)
Frederica Wilson (Florida)
They lost by seven votes. Eleven didn’t show up. By House rules, a tie was all they needed for the impeachment to go forward.
Some of the missing Democrats were at a reception held by Elect Democratic Women, a political action committee. One of its founders is Katherine Clark, the House Democratic whip. The whip’s job is to get members to the floor when a vote matters.
The vote was set for 5:30. The reception ran from 4:30 to 6:30.
Nobody heads to the airport for an important flight planning to arrive five minutes before the gate closes. You leave early, because missing it isn’t an option. For a vote you campaigned on, you’re in the building well before it starts.
Their schedules show which one they couldn’t afford to miss.
A few offered a personal reason and left it there: a personal emergency, a medical procedure, no details. I don’t believe it, and I don’t have to. These are elected officials who missed a vote they campaigned on. Private citizens are entitled to privacy. Public officials who want to be believed have to say what happened.
A medical procedure explains where someone was. It doesn’t explain why it had to be that day. Nobody asked.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a California Democrat, put it plainly: “We knew that this vote was coming, so people should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote.”
The first test
Voters angry about the Iran war had just handed Democrats the House. Democrats ran on accountability. Jeffries calls Hegseth the war’s architect.
The first chance to show that accountability came seven days later. Eleven Democrats didn’t show up to try.
Accountability doesn’t only apply to votes you’re sure to win. Nobody knew how this one would come out until the gavel fell. The only way to find out was to be in the room.
Eleven of them weren’t.
Weeks of drumroll, then traffic
After weeks of buildup, here is how the press explained why eleven Democrats didn’t show up.
Some didn’t say why at all. The New York Times led with Republicans closing ranks around Hegseth, noted that more Democrats than Republicans missed the vote, listed the names and moved on.
Some passed along the excuse. The Wall Street Journal’s subhead: “Some lawmakers were stuck in traffic or out of town.” Even ABC, which pushed back in its story, headlined it “Many blamed traffic.”
Scripps News didn’t even treat it as an excuse. It reported it as cause: “Traffic, timing and other circumstances kept 11 Democrats from a key House vote.”
If you got your news from television, traffic is what you heard.
Axios and the Washington Post did report the reception. You had to be reading them to find out.
The press hoped for a different result but settled for lame excuses
Had the impeachment succeeded, we would have been buried in it for a week, the same way we heard about it right up to the vote. When it failed because Democrats didn’t show up, it got a whimper and a traffic report.
Eleven Democrats skipped the vote. Most of the press skipped the question.
Not looking is cover too.
Accountability was a good angle to get elected. You don’t expect them to actually make good on that promise, or care if they do.
Sources
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 317, H. Res. 1655, On Motion to Refer, Nov. 10, 2026
PBS NewsHour, As Congress returns, Hegseth faces prospect of impeachment, Nov. 9, 2026
Washington Week with The Atlantic, Will Congress impeach Hegseth – and how will Trump react?, Oct. 23, 2026
Stars and Stripes, report on the Nov. 10 House vote
Reuters, report on the Nov. 10 House vote, as republished by The Garden Island
The New York Times, Robert Jimison, report on the Nov. 10 House vote, as republished by The Nightly
The Wall Street Journal, Maya Davis and Yoko Kubota, “Missing Democrats Fuel Party Backlash After Hegseth Impeachment Effort Fails,” Nov. 11, 2026
ABC News, Several Democrats missed the crucial Hegseth impeachment vote. Many blamed traffic
Scripps News, Why 11 Democrats missed key House vote on Hegseth impeachment effort
The Washington Post, Democratic lawmakers apologize after absences on Hegseth vote, Nov. 11, 2026
Reason, Democrats miss Hegseth impeachment vote for ‘Elect Democratic Women’ event, Nov. 11, 2026
The New Republic, Full List of Democrats Who Missed Hegseth Impeachment Vote—and Why
IBTimes, ‘Shame on Folks Who Are Not Here’: Democrat Blasts Absences as House Stalls Hegseth Impeachment Vote