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By Shane Croucher
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"You should show up and do your job."
That was Democratic Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed’s blunt verdict on the 11 House Democrats who missed Tuesday’s vote about impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
California Democratic Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove was harsher, declaring "shame on folks who are not here."
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The anger is understandable, though several of the absent House Democrats blamed traffic for which they are, of course, not responsible.
The House had voted 211-204 to send Republican Representative Thomas Massie’s eight articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee, shelving them.
Every Democrat who voted opposed referral. Had the 11 joined them and nothing else changed—seven Republicans were absent too, let’s not forget—then it would have failed.
But Democrats should come to thank them, whether they realize it or not.
The absentees accidentally stopped their party from beginning its post-midterm era with a draining and uncertain impeachment fight it lacks the Senate votes to finish.
And they bought it time to choose a better one.
Investigate First
Massie’s allegations are serious, and Hegseth is far from a popular figure with either party.
His articles accuse Hegseth of waging the Iran war without congressional authorization and fighting on after Congress voted to end it.
They also say Hegseth dismantled safeguards against civilian casualties, ordered unlawful strikes on suspected drug boats, retaliated against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, and directed unauthorized operations in Venezuela and Yemen.
Serious allegations merit serious investigation. Hegseth denies all the allegations, calling the attempted impeachment a baseless "political spectacle."
Impeachment is something else altogether, more like the "circus" Hegseth describes, and Democrats just don’t obviously have the numbers, even in January.
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Conviction requires a two-thirds Senate vote. Democrats will soon hold at least 54 seats, leaving them at least 11 Republicans short.
Some Republicans are wavering on Hegseth, but two who signaled openness to conviction, Thom Tillis and Bill Cassidy, leave the Senate in January.
Democrats don’t need the chaos of impeachment to scrutinize Hegseth or put his job under pressure.
Their incoming committee chairs can investigate the war, subpoena evidence, and haul officials before Congress.
Democrat Representative Jim Himes, in line to chair the House Intelligence Committee, criticized the absences of his party colleagues.
But Himes also called Massie’s move "not careful" and suggested Democrats focus on oversight.
El-Sayed made much the same point before Election Day. Asked whether impeaching Hegseth should be on the table, he said impeachment is a decision made "after thorough investigation," and that Congress’s first priority had to be relief from the affordability crisis.
Massie’s resolution reached the floor a day after he filed it; not a lot of time for thorough investigation. El-Sayed had it right in October.
Spend the Mandate Wisely
Democrats won Congress in an election dominated by those concerns.
In October, Gallup found the economy, health care, and Iran were voters’ top priorities; among independents, 51 percent rated the economy extremely important, 48 percent health care, and 46 percent Iran.
KFF’s postelection analysis found the same top three, with Democrats’ widest advantage over Republicans, 20 points, on health care.
Iran is on that list largely because of its impact on the cost of living by driving up energy costs, and because Trump had once promised that such wars were in America’s past.
Nor would removing Hegseth, easily replaced, end the war. Massie’s first article accuses him of executing the order to start it. But the order came from President Donald Trump, who remains open to restarting the conflict if he cannot reach a deal with Tehran.
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Hegseth knows the usual script for impeachment. He called the articles "a farce" and "a stunt," which is precisely how recent impeachments have played out.
The last Cabinet secretary impeached, Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024, kept his job after the Senate dismissed the charges without even hearing the merits of the case.
But that does not come close to the partisan theatrics of Donald Trump’s two impeachments, which left a bitter taste in Americans’ mouths and, ultimately, failed.
Trump was impeached twice, acquitted twice, and returned to the White House in 2025 with the popular vote and a trifecta.
Impeachment without removal can leave its target more than just standing. It can embolden them, as Trump shows.
The 11 should have shown up for an important vote. Their colleagues are entitled to say so. And some of their voters do prioritize accountability for Trump officials.
But politics sometimes produces useful outcomes through bad processes.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries says Tuesday was not the end.
Before his party tries again, it should recognize what the absentees gave it: a second chance to spend its mandate on what voters really asked for.
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