House Democrats Call for Haley Stevens to Be Removed From the Caucus After Her Rogers Endorsement, and Jeffries Says the Decision Waits Until After the Election
Reps. Delia Ramirez and Pramila Jayapal want her out. The state party says she is no longer a member. Jeffries says leaders will discuss 'appropriate next steps' when the House returns, and Stevens's communications director has left.
House Democratic leaders are holding off on punishing Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan after she endorsed Republican Mike Rogers over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed in the Senate race, Fox News reports.
What happened. Stevens endorsed Rogers on Nov. 1, two days before the election. She is a four-term member who is leaving Congress at the end of the year after narrowly losing the Democratic Senate primary to El-Sayed. Fox reports she had taken a lukewarm approach to backing him since, while criticizing his approach to Israel and to Jewish and Black voters. The break came after El-Sayed's campaign publicly asked her to stay away from his events. She then appeared at another church with Rogers and his wife and endorsed him.
The demands. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., wrote on X that Stevens is "unfit to serve with the Democratic caucus" and "must be removed." Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said she "has no place in our party," according to POLITICO. The group IfNotNow also asked Hakeem Jeffries to expel her and strip her of committee assignments. Fox notes that how committee assignments could be taken away would depend on caucus and House rules.
The response. Jeffries told POLITICO: "Haley Stevens made a terrible decision, blindsided everyone and isolated herself from the House Democratic caucus. We will have a discussion about appropriate next steps upon our return." A senior Democratic aide told Fox that Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar would likely support Jeffries. Neither office answered Fox's requests for comment.
Other fallout. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel wrote on X that Stevens "is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future." Rep. Debbie Dingell said on CNN that Stevens had told her "multiple times" over the weekend she would not endorse Rogers, and that she did not know what changed. When Fox contacted Stevens's office, an automated reply said her communications director was "no longer with the Office of Congresswoman Haley Stevens" as of Nov. 1.
What we could not check. The report does not include Stevens's own statement on the demands. Fox's account of El-Sayed's past comments is linked in the original and we have not reviewed it. Whether she would be removed has not been decided.