Some Democrats privately call impeachment vote a misstep for Jeffries, Clark

Pentagon spent a week calling members individually against impeachment

In private, some Democratic lawmakers characterized the House vote that blocked impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a misstep for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the Democratic whip, coming immediately after the party’s midterm wins.

Clark, who is in charge of counting votes and No. 2 in leadership, said in a whip meeting Wednesday that it was lawmakers’ jobs to show up and warned that the caucus couldn’t disappoint the voters who had just given them their new majority, according to people familiar with the matter.

Clark was at an event for the political group Elect Democratic Women, but left early after hearing about traffic, according to a Democratic aide. She and her staff called and texted members to warn them to take alternate routes to make it on time, the person said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has avoided impeachment for now. Republican leaders’ push to block the impeachment process passed 211 to 204 in the GOP-run House late Tuesday. Republicans stayed united — except for Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who initiated the impeachment effort — and only a handful missed the vote, despite fears that their midterm losses last week would dent their ranks.

On the Democratic side, 11 members weren’t present for the roll call — potentially more than enough to have swung the result their way, angering activists and bewildering colleagues who wanted to maintain the pressure on the Pentagon chief.

The missed votes set off recriminations in a caucus that won control of the House in last week’s midterm elections and takes over next year. “People elect us to do the responsible thing, and the minimum is to show up and vote on such an important vote like this,” said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, who called the frustration widespread. “A lot of us are disappointed that everyone wasn’t there.”

The absent members offered varying explanations. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is retiring after this term, had left for a Veterans Day event in her home state, her office said. Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., cited a medical procedure. Many of the other missing members said they tried to make it but were stuck in traffic. “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 before I, along with other Members, could reach the chamber,” said Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., said a personal emergency caused him to miss the vote. “I take full responsibility,” he said in a floor speech.

The congestion reached the chamber itself. In the tunnels and elevators under the Capitol, rushing members complained of bumper-to-bumper congestion, many of them relieved they managed to make it on time. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., hustled through the speaker’s gallery outside of the voting chamber shortly after the gavel sounded, barely missing the vote after being stalled in traffic.

Others made it on time. Gonzalez, Rep. Adam Gray, D-Calif., and Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., had spoken at an event roughly 10 minutes away from the Capitol just minutes before voting began. All three logged “no” votes on the motion.

The vote was long scheduled for 5:30 p.m. as a 15-minute vote at minimum, and Republicans kept it open for nearly a half-hour. It isn’t clear it would have made a difference if all the Democrats had made it in time to vote, as Republicans could have kept the vote open indefinitely for their own late members.

Many members were beside themselves that they had let this week’s chance slip through their fingers.

The Democratic effort on the impeachment vote contrasted with Republican discipline. The Pentagon’s legislative team, including senior civilian and military officials, had made a push in recent days to get Republican lawmakers on board, according to a senior defense official. Pentagon officials spent the last week calling members individually to persuade them Hegseth shouldn’t be impeached, the person said.

Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., reacting to the list of absent Democrats, said he had back surgery a day earlier and checked himself out of the hospital so as to not miss the vote on Hegseth. “He needs to go!” he posted on X. “People should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote. There is no reason why we should have lost this vote because of attendance issues,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., told Meidas Touch outside the Capitol. “Shame on folks who were not here.”

Jeffries has said that impeaching Hegseth will be a priority when Democrats take control next year, when he is expected to be elected speaker. Regarding Hegseth, Jeffries told reporters late Tuesday that “this is not the end of it, it’s just the beginning.” Still, Democratic lawmakers filtered out of the chamber after the evening’s votes concluded, continuing the upbeat energy that has buoyed the caucus following their midterm victories, and Clark and Jeffries joined new members-elect for a caucus dinner and drinks in the Capitol.