11 Democrats Skipped The Vote That Buried Hegseth's 'Fake' Impeachment

Republicans buried Rep. Thomas Massie's impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by seven votes on Tuesday, and 11 House Democrats who could have stopped them never cast a vote. Three of them were at an AIPAC-linked fundraiser with defense lobbyists. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026.Nathan Howard / AP"This is fake. He knows it. Every one of these members of Congress knows it outright," said podcaster Tim Pool said on his show Tuesday night, with all due respect, he added, to Massie, whom he called a friend. Then he read out the tally:"210 Republicans said, yes, refer to committee. One Republican said, no, don't. That's [Massie]. 203 Democrats said, no, don't refer to committee. One independent said, yeah. So it's 211 to 204. 18 did not vote, which means Democrats could have impeached if they wanted to."The House Clerk's roll call carries the same numbers. At 6:02 p.m. on Nov. 10, the House voted 211-204 on a motion to refer Massie's resolution, H.Res. 1655, to the Judiciary Committee: 210 Republicans and the chamber's one independent for, Massie and 203 Democrats against. Eighteen members did not vote: 11 Democrats and seven Republicans. As we reported, the referral effectively kills the articles in this Congress.Had the 11 absent Democrats voted no, the motion would have failed 215-211, ABC News calculated. The seven missing Republicans cut the other way: with all 18 present and voting with their parties, the referral would still have carried, 218-215."Why didn't these Democrats vote?" Pool asked. "If the Democrats really wanted Hegseth impeached, these Democrats could have joined in and they would have won because they only needed seven," he said. Seven more votes against the motion would have tied it at 211, and a tie fails in the House.The absent Democrats were Julia Brownley, Lou Correa, Laura Gillen, Steven Horsford, Jonathan Jackson, Nancy Pelosi, Brittany Pettersen, Melanie Stansbury, Haley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland and Frederica Wilson. Several blamed a traffic jam and a police escort outside the Capitol, according to statements collected by ABC News. Jackson said a traffic incident "caused a delay that resulted in the vote closing before I, along with other Members, could reach the chamber." Gillen said she was "stuck behind the same police escort blocking the Capitol when Republicans closed the vote," and Strickland missed it by about a minute, her chief of staff said.Aaron Schwartz/Getty ImagesPelosi's spokesman said she "returned to San Francisco yesterday to join and honor local veterans" and "would have voted 'No' on the motion to refer." Correa had announced in advance that a medical procedure kept him in California. Pettersen said she was "denied the ability to vote.""At the end of the day, we're here to do a job," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Scripps News of the absences, though she said she didn't know whether any of the members had health issues or other reasons. "We got to clock in and do our work here."In a clip posted Wednesday, Pool argued that Democrats never wanted the trial an impeachment would bring: "This would result in a trial. First, it would result in an investigation over everything pertaining to the war in Iran." "I guarantee you, Democrat leadership wants this war all the same. It's the war party. It's the uniparty," he said.The Hegseth impeachment attempt was FAKE. We should actually be thanking Thomas Massie because he helped expose the Democrats' game.Republicans were only able to kill the impeachment attempt because 11 Democrats DIDN'T VOTE pic.twitter.com/03cAwioip6— Tim Pool (@Timcast) November 11, 2026House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who went from hedging to a "hard yes" on impeaching Hegseth two days before the vote, as we noted, signaled afterward that Democrats weren't finished, and Pettersen said she expects them to impeach Hegseth in January, once they hold the majority. Removal would still take a two-thirds vote of the Senate, 67 senators, and Pool's verdict on that was blunt: "there's not going to be 67 votes in the Senate."