Report: Dem Rep. Jonathan Jackson Caught Lying About Why He Was Absent from Hegseth Impeachment Vote

The Democrats who failed to show up to the vote to impeach War Secretary Pete Hegseth are now groveling to the media and their constituents, with Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) allegedly getting caught in a lie about his whereabouts.

Nearly a dozen House Democrats missed the vote on outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) effort to oust Hegseth, which failed 211-204. As a result, a lot of backlash from their own party has been thrown at Reps. Julia Brownley (D-CA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), and Frederica Wilson (D-FL).

Some of the absent members were attending a reception for Elect Democratic Women (EDW), a PAC co-founded by Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), when the vote was taking place on Tuesday evening. 

A range of excuses were offered by some of the missing members. Correa said he had a medical procedure, Horsford claimed he had an unspecified “family emergency,” and Pelosi’s spokesperson said she was attending a Veterans Day event in California. 

Pettersen stated that she was simply “denied the ability to vote” — presumably because she showed up too late. 

Jackson made the amazing error of speaking with TMZ just outside of the Capitol ahead of the vote, which he somehow missed and blamed on traffic:

After telling TMZ’s Charlie Cotton that he “can’t wait” to impeach Hegseth, he failed to show up to vote and claimed on X that “a traffic incident and a police-escorted bus caused a delay that resulted in the vote closing before I, along with other Members, could reach the chamber.”

When confronted on this discrepancy by Cotton on Wednesday, the Illinois congressman failed to explain how he was at the Capitol, yet somehow missed the vote:

“I missed the vote. There was a traffic jam that was there. It’s inexcusable, let’s not make any excuse for it. Should’ve been able to make the vote — it was a procedural vote,” Jackson said.

“But, you kind of did make the vote,” pressed Cotton. 

Jackson stuttered, before saying, “There were three votes in that series … there was a previous question, but I stand by — I was the first member of Congress who asked for Pete Hegseth to be resigned.”

He then told Cotton to “turn around and look” at the roads and parking lot around the Capitol complex. “You can see this is a very busy area right here.”

When Cotton argued that he had seen him “with minutes to spare” the day before, Jackson acknowledged that “It was a mistake.”

“I wish I could answer you in any more detail, but I support the removal of Pete Hegseth,” he added before walking away.

In a video posted to social media, Cotton told viewers that “this traffic jam thing — it’s not the truth, or it’s not the whole truth.”

“He could’ve made the vote […] I just think that this traffic jam nonsense is nonsense.”

In another interview with former CNN personality Don Lemon, Jackson admitted that he was in the Capitol yard prior to the vote, “But there was a bit of a traffic jam.”

“I walked over — ran over — got up to the foot of the stairs, and simply missed the vote. There’s no excuse for it.”

While it is unclear who exactly attended the EDW event while the vote was occurring, Axios’s Andrew Solender confirmed that “some” of the missing Democrats got “caught in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam” on the way back from the event, and Drop Site’s Julian Andreone reported that eight of the Democrats who missed the vote “have received support from EDW or its AIPAC-tied super PAC EDW Action.”

Strickland’s chief of staff told the Daily Beast she missed the vote due to having to let a motorcade pass, and Gillen and Stansbury also pulled the traffic jam cards. 

Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.