Democrats lambast absent peers after Republicans block Hegseth impeachment attempt

Democratic lawmakers expressed outrage as nearly a dozen of their colleagues missed Tuesday evening’s key procedural vote to impeach defense secretary Pete Hegseth, allowing Republicans to defeat the effort.

Eleven Democrats failed to cast their votes, which contributed to the 211-204 defeat. Some lawmakers cited traffic and scheduling conflicts as reasons for their absence, while others attacked Speaker Mike Johnson for closing the vote prematurely. Despite the lack of participation, many of the not present Democrats stated they support the impeachment initiative.

“You should show up and do your job,” Abdul El-Sayed, the senator-elect of Michigan, instructed on CNN to the Democratic lawmakers Tuesday.

Richard Ojeda, the representative-elect of North Carolina, publicly called the voting pattern a “failure.” “Shame on them for not showing up,” Ojeda said on Tuesday. “This is important… they had an opportunity to finally get rid of this buffoonery.”

The missing Democrats provided Republicans with the necessary margin to refer eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth to a House committee.

Speaking at Arlington national cemetery to mark Veterans Day, Donald Trump praised Hegseth and described her performance as a “fantastic job” leading the Pentagon.

“I had a feeling that was going to happen,” the president added, noting that Hegseth “loves you, and he protects you – he’s all about you.”

The articles, introduced by Republican Thomas Massie, alleged violations of congressional authority regarding the war in Iran. This effort followed the 2026 midterm elections, where voters overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates as a rebuke to Trump administration policies, including the Iran conflict.

Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a representative from California, argued there was “no reason we should have lost this vote because of attendance issues.” “This is what the people have been talking about… shame on folks who were not here because these people lost,” she commented.

The missing Democrats gave House Republicans the numbers to shelve the impeachment effort by voting 211 – 204 to refer eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth to a House committee.

Congressman Glenn Ivey, a Maryland Democrat, called the absence of the eleven lawmakers “certainly disappointing,” though he said there would be “other chances” to advance impeachment efforts. He highlighted that voters’ top priority remains cost of living concerns, stating that for many in his district, staying in their homes depends on Hegseth’s removal. “We’ve been calling it the affordability agenda, but I think for many people, it’s really a survivability agenda, and we need to be focused on that.”

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