A vote to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that could have happened in the U.S. House as early as Thursday will now be avoided, at least until after this year's midterm election. Republican leaders announced Wednesday they would leave Washington a day earlier than scheduled.
House Speaker Mike Johnson's decision cuts short by a day an already light congressional work period, in a month that will see the House in session for just six days. The chamber is not due back in Washington until after the Nov. 3 election, as lawmakers will now fan out to campaign.
In announcing the schedule change, House leaders did not reference the vote to impeach Hegseth, plans for which were unveiled on Tuesday in a surprise move from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. But Massie and other lawmakers cited the potentially politically awkward vote, which would impeach Hegseth over unauthorized military actions in Iran, as the reason.
"And there it is. Just as I predicted. They're canceling Congress tomorrow to avoid the vote on IMPEACHING @SecWar," Massie wrote on X.
"It will also make it harder for us to reach 218 signatures on the Epstein Discharge Petition before the election. We were at 190+ signatures last night," continued Massie, referring to a separate effort to compel the Department of Justice to comply with an earlier congressional mandate to release all files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Massie, a libertarian-leaning GOP rabblerouser, has often been at odds with the White House since the start of President Donald Trump's second term, in particular over Massie's push for transparency relating to Epstein, with whom Trump was once friends.
The impeachment resolution was not likely to pass, but it was a shock to GOP leaders, whom Massie said he did not warn in advance. It argues that Hegseth has carried out unlawful orders, including by keeping troops deployed without congressional authorization.
"We should be having this vote. We shouldn't be cancelling Congress because of the optics," Massie said from the House floor on Wednesday.
Massie's push to oust Hegseth comes amid increased scrutiny of the war. The House approved a war powers resolution Tuesday night on a 220-204 vote, ordering the White House to end the Iran war. It was the third time the House has voted on a measure to end the war. Seven Republicans joined Democrats in support of the resolution, up from four GOP members in the previous two war powers votes.
Asked to respond to Massie's impeachment resolution, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson defended Hegseth's record in an emailed statement.
"By every measurable metric, the Department of War is better under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth's leadership than before. The entire Department is unified behind the Secretary's vision and will continue working to put our warfighters and America first," Wilson said.
Johnson, speaking to reporters earlier Wednesday, called Massie's attempt a "publicity stunt by someone who wants attention."
"It will immediately be tabled, of course. But we probably won't do that today. We'll probably do it when we come back," Johnson said.
Democrats pounced on the early dismissal.
"There's really only one explanation for why they would cancel votes tomorrow and send us home early before the midterms, and that's because they are afraid that the House of Representatives will vote to impeach Pete Hegseth," Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., said in a video posted to X. "And the speaker obviously, and obviously the president, does not want that. And so instead they're just going to send us home."
