House to adjourn early, stave off Hegseth impeachment vote

By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, CNN

(CNN) — Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday announced he is sending members home from Washington early for their seven-week campaigning recess ahead of the midterm elections, a move that will stave off a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

House Republicans had planned to remain in session until Thursday, but will now take their last votes Wednesday evening on a major White House priority — a Russia sanctions bill — and then leave town. The next time House lawmakers are expected back in Washington will be after the November elections.

“It’s time for our members to go home to their districts and make the case to the American people,” Johnson told reporters.

House GOP lawmakers were already eager to get out of town. They’d been in a dour mood, faced with growing political pressure to act on contentious issues like artificial intelligence and tariffs, all while anxiety rises over their ability to hold the chamber in the midterms.

Then came a new headache: One of their fellow Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie, announced he would be forcing an unprecedented vote to impeach Hegseth over his handling of the US war with Iran. Because his resolution carries special procedural powers, it started a legislative clock that required GOP leaders to put it on the floor in the coming days.

But now, Republicans have found a way to stall that vote by leaving early and postponing it until November.

Asked if GOP leaders were canceling session to protect members from a politically difficult vote to impeach Hegseth, Johnson said the move had nothing to do with the defense secretary.

But Johnson attacked Massie for his surprise push.

“It is a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention. It will immediately be tabled of course. But we probably won’t do that today, we will do it when we come back,” Johnson said. “We should not be playing games with national security.”

In his 34-page resolution, Massie argued that Hegseth has repeatedly abused the powers of his office in leading the US war with Iran, including carrying out unlawful orders and continuing to keep troops deployed without authorization from Congress.

Hegseth, he argued, “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.” Massie spent multiple hours reading aloud his resolution on the House floor.

Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday defended Hegseth in light of the impeachment push, arguing that he “follows the law.”

“Secretary Hegseth is doing a phenomenal job, and the secretary of war doesn’t just go off and do things. So, he follows the law. And so the DOJ plays a role in that, and we play an active role in making sure the laws are complied with,” Blanche said while holding a press briefing in the White House Rose Garden.

The impeachment resolution touched on more than Iran. Massie also took aim at Hegseth for what he called the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader” in Venezuela, referring to the capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro. He accused the Pentagon of kidnapping the nation’s leader “under the guise of narcotics law enforcement, though in actuality intended to assert U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil reserves.”

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