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Back-to-back blunders on the House floor are raising questions over whether Democrats are ready for primetime as they’re poised to take over the majority — and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., makes a bid for the top role.
Democrats are projected to win 255 House seats, with 12 races yet to be called, and Jeffries is running to be Speaker of the House following the sweeping victories last week that saw the party make gains even in traditional Republican strongholds like Texas, Mississippi, Kansas and South Carolina.
But some have questioned whether the recent snafus signal that Jeffries and other leaders may not be ready to be in command of the House majority.
“I may have to rethink my support of Hakeem Jeffries after the Hegseth impeachment vote,” Fred Trump III, a Democrat, author and nephew of President Donald Trump, posted on X. “Eleven Democrats do not show up? All Republicans vote it down.”
“Pete Hegseth is laughing at you and is stronger today. Shame,” he continued. “A slap in the face of the military and veterans on this important day.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks alongside Rep. Pete Aguilar and Rep. Katherine Clark during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 8, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
House GOP leaders’ successfully blocked Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., from leading the charge to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth earlier this week.
Part of the reason for the failure was the absence of 11 House Democrats during a procedural vote on Tuesday evening.
Had just seven of them been present, the vote to kill Massie’s impeachment resolution would have failed, triggering debate and a vote on impeaching the Cabinet secretary likely the next day.
“Everyone knew that attendance was key tonight but somehow Democratic leaders failed to deliver and handed Republicans a win,” Demand Progress Executive Director Sean Vitka said in a statement.
‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOST CALLS DEMOCRATS MISSING HEGSETH IMPEACHMENT VOTE A ‘SELF-INFLICTED WOUND’
Progressive journalist David Schuster wrote on X, “Sure, house Dems will have 259 seats in January instead of current 213. And Hegseth impeachment can be reintroduced. But Hakeem having 11 Dem absences today on Hegseth (thus losing vote) reveals a Hakeem leadership problem. Embarrassing.”
An emotional Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., said in a video posted to X that she and other Democrats were stuck in traffic when they missed the vote.
Various reports, however, said they were at a fundraiser less than two miles from the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth takes questions from reporters during a news conference at the Pentagon on Nov. 10, 2026 in Arlington, Va. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Others blamed medical procedures and family emergencies.
The day after, a bill Democratic leadership was actively urging lawmakers to vote against passed by unanimous voice vote — simply because no Democrats called for a roll call instead.
Democrats accused Republicans of parliamentary tricks, including a post on the X account belonging to the House Veterans Affairs Committee minority, “Republicans pushed it through that way intentionally so their members wouldn’t have to go on the record supporting cuts to veterans’ benefits.”
But the majority of Democrats do not believe it is an early blight on Jeffries’ potential speakership.
HAKEEM JEFFRIES DECLARES BID FOR HOUSE SPEAKER AFTER GOP’S MIDTERM MASSACRE
“I think there’s frustration in terms of whipping votes. I’m not entirely sure where the breakdown is. And it does seem like there’s maybe some tension somewhere,” Democratic strategist Mike Nellis told Fox News Digital. “I think it’ll be incumbent on the incoming speaker to make sure that everybody feels like they’re on the same page…beyond that, if you’re asking me if it makes a difference in a leadership flight, I mean, nobody’s running against Hakeem. I haven’t heard of anybody seriously thinking about doing that, so I don’t know that it’ll change anything.”
He said House Democrats largely “have faith” in Jeffries and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., who is poised to be the next House Majority Leader.
Democrat Dan Turrentine, co-host of “The Huddle,” told Fox News Digital “a few Democrats unintentionally missed one vote. Unfortunately this happens periodically in both chambers, for both parties. It does not speak to Jeffries’ leadership.”
And other House Democrats, when asked, directed frustration at their colleagues instead.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., arrives for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee deposition of former Attorney General Pam Bondi about the Jeffrey Epstein files, in Rayburn building on Friday, May 29, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“My message is always to members that we need to be here and be on time,” Clark told reporters Wednesday. “But there was a clear message from the Republican Party as well that they are unwilling, even after this election, to stand up against Hegseth in this war.”
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said, “It’s unfortunate, but that’s not on leadership.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ political team for comment.
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