In his Vox newsletter The Midterms, Actually, Astead Herndon takes up the Democratic leadership fight after eleven House Democrats missed a 10 November 2026 vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, dooming the effort and inflaming calls for new leaders beyond Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer. Herndon argues the missed vote exposes a party divide beyond the usual ideological camps, and the article's standfirst holds that the midterm victories showed voters want fighters.