Democrats Apologize After Missing Vote on Hegseth Impeachment Effort

Democrats are apologizing for not being present for a procedural vote on an impeachment effort against War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“I am so sorry,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said in a video outside the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 11, one day after missing the vote. “There is no one who is more disappointed in myself than me that I was not here.”

Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) said that he took responsibility for not being present.

“The accountability I demand of others applies to me, too,” he said on the House of Representatives floor in Washington.

Eleven Democrats missed the vote. A majority vote would have prevented the resolution from being referred.

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Horsford blamed an unspecified personal emergency. Stansbury and several other Democrats who weren’t there said they were rushing to the Capitol but were caught in traffic.

“I was driving the Congresswoman and was forced to wait for a motorcade to pass by Capitol Police, causing the Congresswoman to miss the vote by 1 minute,” Andrew Noh, chief of staff for Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), told news outlets in a statement. ”She would have voted against the motion to refer.”

They and others blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for not keeping the vote open for longer.

“As I and many of my colleagues were rushing to the floor to support Hegseth’s impeachment, Mike Johnson closed the vote before we could,” Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) said on Bluesky.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the former House speaker, flew to California to take part in a Veterans Day event, a spokesperson said.

Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) was poised to undergo a medical procedure and was following his doctor’s advice to not travel until medically cleared, he said in a statement.

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), who will not serve another term after opting to run for a U.S. Senate seat and losing, and Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), who is retiring soon, have not commented on why they missed the vote.

Seven Republicans also did not vote on the resolution.

Republicans currently have 218 seats in the House. Democrats have 214. There is one independent and two vacancies.

Democrats flipped both chambers of Congress in the midterm election. They will have at least 255 seats in the House in the next Congress, beginning in January 2027. There are 12 races that still have not been called as of Nov. 12.

Democrats promised to renew the effort to impeach Hegseth once they take control of the House.

“Next year House Democrats will impeach Hegseth,” Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) said on X, “and neither Johnson nor Trump will be able to stop us.”