Eleven Democrats Absent as Vote Shelves Impeachment Charges Against Hegseth
Eleven Democrats were absent from a vote that helped Republicans shelve impeachment charges against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
According to Democrats Face Backlash After Missing Hegseth Impeachment Vote in The New York Times, eleven Democrats were absent during a vote that helped Republicans shelve charges against the defense secretary. The Times reported that the absences drew sharp criticism about a week after the party's sweeping election victories.
Fox News reported that Representative Melanie Stansbury apologized in a video for missing the vote on impeachment charges against Pete Hegseth. In the video, according to Fox News's account of the apology, she blamed rush-hour traffic and a police motorcade near the Capitol. The network's headline described the traffic as "horrific."
The Times framed the episode as a backlash against the party, while the Fox News account focused on the explanation Stansbury offered for her absence. The two reports address different aspects of the same vote, with the Times describing the broader criticism and Fox News describing the individual apology.
The available summaries do not specify whether Stansbury was one of the eleven Democrats counted as absent by the Times. Neither summary describes how the vote was counted or what the charges against Hegseth alleged, and the reports do not say whether further votes on the matter are planned.
Sources: The New York Times: Democrats Face Backlash After Missing Hegseth Impeachment Vote; Fox News: Dem rep blames 'horrific' traffic for missing Hegseth impeachment vote: 'I am so sorry'.