Week of November 9: the impeachment vote, and the eleven who missed it
The first check-in is published early, covering this week's roll calls through Friday, November 13. One vote this week met the standard for scoring — and it was decided by who did not show up.
The scored vote. On Tuesday, November 10, the House voted on a motion to refer the impeachment resolution against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (H.Res. 1655) to the Judiciary Committee — a motion to shelve impeachment without a vote on the articles themselves. The motion carried 211–204 (House Roll Call 317). Every Democrat who voted opposed it: 203 NAY, 0 YEA. Those 203 members earn a FOLLOWING THE MANDATE week — they showed up and voted to keep impeachment alive.
The eleven absences. Eleven Democrats were listed Not Voting on Roll Call 317. The margin was seven votes; the absences were eleven. Under the published method, an absence from a significant vote is a finding, and each of these members earns an ADVANCING THE ESTABLISHMENT week:
- Julia Brownley (CA-26)
- J. Luis Correa (CA-46)
- Nancy Pelosi (CA-11)
- Brittany Pettersen (CO-07)
- Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)
- Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01)
- Haley M. Stevens (MI-11)
- Steven Horsford (NV-04)
- Melanie A. Stansbury (NM-01)
- Laura Gillen (NY-04)
- Marilyn Strickland (WA-10)
Georgia's delegation. All five Georgia Democratic representatives — Bishop (GA-02), Johnson (GA-04), Williams (GA-05), McBath (GA-06), and Blair (GA-13) — voted NAY. Georgia's senators had no scored vote this week (below).
The Senate: no scored vote. The Senate took no roll call on government funding during November 9–12, so there is no Senate funding vote to score this week — the check-in scores roll calls, and it does not grade deals that never came to a vote. The Senate's recorded votes were a procedural motion on H.R. 2347, a tax bill excluding sexual-assault damages awards from gross income (Nov 9–10, bipartisan, not scored), and cloture and confirmation votes on three judicial nominations on November 12, on which every Democrat present voted NAY (not scored). Attendance note: 18–19 Democratic senators were absent for the November 12 nomination votes; Senators Ossoff and Warnock of Georgia were present and voted NAY on each. Sixteen senators are scored this week on their statements instead — five on official statements and eleven more under the expanded statements standard — see the updates below.
Also this week, not scored. The Major Richard Star Act (veterans' concurrent receipt) reached the floor by discharge petition (Roll Call 320, Nov 11) and passed (Roll Call 323, Nov 12) with all 210 voting Democrats in favor both times. Reps. Correa and Pelosi — both among the eleven above — were absent for those votes as well; Rep. Moulton, who voted on Tuesday, was absent Wednesday and Thursday.
Update, Friday November 13 — the statements pass. The method scores official statements as well as votes, so we reviewed the senators' official statements for November 9–13 and the explanations offered for the eleven absences. Five senators are now scored on their official statements:
- Following the mandate — Sens. Bennet (CO), Sanders (VT), Van Hollen (MD) and Duckworth (IL): a joint official statement (Nov 12, bennet.senate.gov) refusing any short-term spending deal that keeps funding the Iran war, and demanding language restricting the use of appropriated funds for it. Bennet also released his Nov 9 letter urging colleagues to refuse cloture on any package funding the war, and Van Hollen announced the same day he is running for Majority Leader on the call for new leadership (vanhollen.senate.gov).
- Advancing the establishment — Sen. King (ME): an official statement (Nov 12, king.senate.gov) backing Chuck Schumer's continued leadership — "I see no reason to change the leadership" — in the week citizens' letters and a sitting senator's own challenge called for new leadership.
Update, Friday November 13 — the statements expansion. The standard for statements was expanded on November 13: a member's own words in news reports and news video count as their public statement, not only postings on their official website. Eleven more senators are now scored on that basis. Following the mandate — Sen. Slotkin (MI), who told reporters at a November 10 Capitol press conference: "Whoever wants my vote is going to have to show me a concrete plan that's definitively different. I'm a no until and unless I see that from anyone," and urged colleagues to withhold quorum. Advancing the establishment — Sen. Schumer (NY), who answered the challenge to his leadership by asserting, "I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader" (statement, Nov 12); Sen. Reed (RI), whose backing of Schumer ("I will support Senator Schumer as leader for the simple reason that Chuck is incredibly effective at the job," Nov 12) was also posted on his official site; Sen. Fetterman (PA) ("I absolutely stand with Schumer. I'm going to vote for Schumer," Nov 10); and seven more who publicly endorsed Schumer's continued leadership after the challenge was announced — Sens. Gallego (AZ), Gillibrand (NY), Blumenthal (CT), Schatz (HI), Cortez Masto (NV), Rosen (NV) and Baldwin (WI), each in their own words on November 10–12. Statements made before this week (Nov 2–8) were not scored, and senators who stayed noncommittal were not scored either. Each member's scoreboard record carries the quote and the outlet.
A story this check-in will not repeat. Accounts circulating this week described a 60–40 Senate "shutdown deal" vote with eight Democratic "defectors." That vote did not happen in November 2026 — it is November 2025 coverage recirculating with new dates. The Senate held no funding vote this week, current funding runs to a December 11 deadline, and none of the eight named senators issued any 2026 statement endorsing a deal. A related claim that House Leader Jeffries missed the impeachment vote is also false: the Clerk's record shows he voted NAY.
The absences, annotated. Three of the eleven said they would have voted NO: Pelosi (a pre-planned district Veterans Day event, per her office), Stansbury (delayed by a traffic incident and a police escort; her office says she filed her intended NO vote in the Congressional Record, and she apologized publicly), and Gillen (the same escort delay; "Hegseth should be impeached"). Correa's absence was a pre-announced medical procedure. Brownley, Stevens and Wilson offered no public explanation we could find. Under the method, every absence still counts — the annotations are carried on each member's scoreboard record.
The week's tally (final): 208 following the mandate · 22 advancing the establishment · 34 no scored action. Friday update: neither chamber took a roll call on Friday, November 13 — the House's last vote of the week was Roll Call 323 on Thursday and the Senate's was Vote 262 on Thursday — so the vote scores above are final for the week. The next check-in posts Monday, November 23, 2026, covering the week of November 16.