House Democratic leaders are postponing a decision on possible punishment for Rep. Haley Stevens until after the midterm elections, despite demands from fellow Democrats to remove her from their caucus. The Michigan congresswoman endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers on Nov. 1, two days before the election, over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the endorsement in comments to POLITICO, saying Stevens had surprised her colleagues and left herself isolated within the caucus. He said members would discuss their next steps when they returned. A senior Democratic aide told Fox News Digital that caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar would probably back Jeffries' response. Neither leader's spokesperson responded to the outlet's requests for comment.
Stevens is completing her fourth term and will leave Congress at the end of the year. She narrowly lost the Democratic Senate primary to El-Sayed, a former public health official. Since that defeat, she has offered limited support for his campaign while criticizing his positions concerning Israel and his approach to Jewish and Black voters.
Relations deteriorated further over the weekend when El-Sayed's campaign publicly asked Stevens to stay away from its events. She had said she planned to attend church with El-Sayed and Rep. Jim Clyburn to help mobilize Black voters. Instead, Stevens appeared at a different church with Rogers and his wife before announcing her endorsement of the former Republican congressman.
Rep. Debbie Dingell said on CNN on Sunday that Stevens had repeatedly assured her over the weekend that she would not support Rogers. In another CNN appearance Monday, Dingell said she did not know what had changed overnight. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel subsequently wrote on X that Stevens was no longer a member of the state party and would not be one in the future.
Calls for action also came from House colleagues. Rep. Delia Ramirez urged Stevens' removal from the caucus in a post on X, describing her decision as “Deplorable and embarrassing.” Rep. Pramila Jayapal similarly said Stevens had no place in the party, according to POLITICO. Ramirez did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The IfNotNow movement also called for Stevens to lose her caucus membership and committee assignments. Expulsion would prevent her from attending the caucus's weekly Capitol meetings. Any effort to remove her committee assignments would require determining the relevant procedures and authority under caucus and House rules.
Fox News Digital's inquiry to Stevens' office about the backlash received an automated response from her communications director stating that he had left the office as of Nov. 1, the day of the endorsement.
