Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 11/11/2026 2:12:13 PM PST by nickcarraway
A group meant to send Democrats to Congress instead kept them out of the building during a close, high-stakes vote. But perhaps party leadership preferred it that way.
Members of Congress literally have one job: show up and vote. And they often can't be bothered to do it. On Tuesday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 211–204 not to have a full vote on impeaching Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, with all Republicans but the libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) voting against the impeachment.
Republican leadership had actually been expecting the impeachment to move forward and pass, Politico reports. But 11 Democrats missed the vote. According to an Axios reporter, some of them were attending a reception for a group called Elect Democratic Women. Ironically, the group was founded by House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Conn.), whose literal job is making sure members show up to vote the right way.
Democrats weren't the only ones to play hooky. Seven Republicans also failed to show up. The procedural decision to avoid a vote on specific articles of impeachment suggests that many members simply didn't want to put their stances on the record. So does the unusually large absence on both sides of the aisle (often with flimsy reasons) for a close, high-stakes vote.
Some of the absences were unavoidable. Rep. Lou Correa (D–Calif.) had warned publicly beforehand that he couldn't make it to the vote due to a medical procedure. The office of Rep. Steven Horsford (D–Nev.) said afterwards that he had to miss the vote due to an unnamed personal emergency. That made it even more important for the rest of the Democratic caucus to show up—at least, if they wanted the vote to pass.
The vote was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Elect Democratic Women reception was scheduled from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm at a restaurant that is normally a five-minute drive from the Capitol building. But there was unexpected traffic due to a police escort in the area. Four Democratic members—Laura Gillen (N.Y.), Jonathan Jackson (Ill.), Melanie Stansbury (N.M.), and Marilyn Strickland (Wash.)—all blamed the traffic for their absence.
Given the scheduling conflict and the importance of the vote, Elect Democratic Women could have rescheduled the reception. The organization did not respond to Reason's questions by email.
Meanwhile, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.) missed the vote for a prescheduled Veterans' Day event in California, her spokesman told The Washington Sun. Rep. Brittany Petersen (D–Colo.) stated that she was "denied the ability to vote on this motion" without elaborating. Democratic Reps. Julia Brownley (Calif.), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Frederica Wilson (Fla.) didn't respond to Reason's questions about their absence.
Neither did most of the absent Republicans. A spokesperson for Rep. Julia Letlow (R–La.) tells Reason that "she ran to the floor but got there too late which is why she missed the vote," and says that she would have voted to stop the impeachment. A spokesperson for Rep. Rudolph Yakym (R–Ind.) says he would've voted similarly, without explaining why he was absent.
Massie, who wrote the articles of impeachment, made Hegseth's impeachment a referendum on the Trump administration's wars, particularly the February 2026 surprise attack on Iran. The first three articles accuse Hegseth of waging war on Iran against Congress' wishes. The fourth and fifth concern the killing of civilians in Iran and the Caribbean. The sixth accuses him of attempting to "retaliate against and intimidate" Sen. Mark Kelly (D–Ariz.) for his criticism of the killings. The seventh and eighth concern the administration's undeclared wars in Venezuela and Yemen.
Voting on those specific questions may have been uncomfortable for Democratic leadership, which is notably lukewarm on the war in Iran. Although Democratic voters (and Americans in general) overwhelmingly oppose the war, party members reportedly saw it as a necessary evil that was better to saddle Republicans with. On its first day, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) stated that "Iran is a bad actor and must be aggressively confronted" while doubting President Donald Trump's ability to do so.
Stevens, a party favorite who lost her primary to upstart Abdul El-Sayed, called El-Sayed soft on Iran and endorsed the Republican candidate a few days before the general election. Asked by Reason, her office did not explain her absence from the Hegseth vote.
The vote on Hegseth also put Republican members in an awkward spot. On one hand, in the eyes of some members, Hegseth has been an incompetent manager of the war and an all-around embarrassing liability. Even the arch-hawk Sen. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) had said before the vote that "either [Hegseth] will resign voluntarily or Trump will fire him." On the other hand, Trump made support for Hegseth a symbol of personal loyalty to himself.
Still, Tuesday's non-vote was only a temporary reprieve for representatives worried about having to do their jobs. When the new Congress takes office in two months, Democrats will have a clear majority to pass articles of impeachment on parties, but not the two-thirds majority needed to convict Hegseth. Lawmakers can expect more votes where their presence matters.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
House Reps don’t have to be present to vote....IIRC
The only reason they want him gone is because he won’t let gays and trans serve openly in the military, that’s it, retribution, payback, nothing more.
Maybe it was specifically planned by Republican leaders that the vote would take place when it did, so that Massie would end up with egg on his face. He should end up with more than just that smeared on his ugly puss.
There’s a lot better chance to convict with the incoming Senate.
if everyone showed up and voted with their party the same result occurs
the 211 goes up to 218
the 204 goes up to 215
“the House of Representatives voted 211–204 not to have a full vote on impeaching Secretary of War Pete Hegseth”
211 to 204? In the so-called Republican Congress?
No biggie. In a matter of months the dems will impeach Hegseth, Trump and who knows who else.
The good news is, the Dems will do about as much as the Repubs did. Not much.
“Maybe it was specifically planned by Republican leaders that the vote would take place when it did, so that Massie would end up with egg on his face. He should end up with more than just that smeared on his ugly puss.”
___________________________________________________________
I don’t like Massie much, but he didn’t end up with any egg here. He’ll be remembered for taking principled positions, even when his party had abandoned principles.
“I don’t believe Democrats do anything by accident. For some reason, they didn’t want this. You’d think they’d be chomping at the bit for this.”
___________________________________________________________
Democrats have zero control of the calendar or privilege determinations in Congress until January. This was a Republican decision to screw one of their on on Whisky Pete’s behalf.
Yeah, they do.
Couple of exceptions during the Great Silliness of 2020 but the rule is, your body not in chamber, no vote for you.
Dems knew the Republicans wouldn’t have the guts to go through with it, so it makes sense they’d be somewhere else to avoid the splatter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.