Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky on Wednesday accused House GOP leadership of truncating the final legislative week before the midterm elections to sidestep a vote on his impeachment resolution targeting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The schedule change, announced by the office of Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), cuts the workweek short by one day, a move Massie says is a deliberate attempt to avoid a politically uncomfortable vote.
“And there it is. Just as I predicted,” Massie wrote on social media. “They’re canceling Congress tomorrow to avoid the vote on IMPEACHING @SecWar.” The Kentucky Republican’s remarks came after the House leadership announced that members would not return for votes on Thursday, effectively ending the pre-election session a day early.
Massie argued that the shortened schedule also jeopardizes a bipartisan discharge petition he co-sponsored with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, aimed at forcing a vote on follow-up legislation to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed the chamber last year. He said the petition had about 190 of the 218 signatures needed as of Tuesday evening, and the early adjournment “makes it harder” to reach the threshold.
The impeachment push stems from eight articles Massie introduced on Tuesday, accusing Hegseth of conducting an illegal war against Iran and authorizing strikes that killed suspected drug smugglers without proper oversight, among other allegations. Massie told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that he deliberately did not inform GOP leadership of his plan, fearing they would try to block him from reading the articles on the floor.
“I was afraid that they would do something to subvert me getting on the floor for an hour and 20 minutes and reading these articles,” Massie said. He explained that filing the privileged resolution on Tuesday forced Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to act within 48 hours, before the House recessed. “He could call the vote tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” Massie said, “and that was another reason for the timing. If I were to offer this tomorrow instead of today, they could have punted this until after the election.”
Speaker Johnson defended the early adjournment, telling reporters, “The House has done it’s work. It’s time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case to the American people, to go and explain all of the great things we’ve done.” The House is now scheduled to reconvene on Nov. 9, after the midterms, following Johnson’s earlier decision to cut the September session short.
The move has drawn sharp criticism from Massie, who has been a vocal opponent of Hegseth’s policies, particularly regarding Iran. This is not the first time Massie has used procedural tactics to force votes on contentious issues; he previously supported an impeachment push against former President Trump over deportations, though that effort failed. The current standoff underscores the growing tension between rank-and-file conservatives and leadership as the party heads into a challenging election cycle.
With the House out until after the midterms, the impeachment resolution will likely sit dormant, but Massie has signaled he will continue to press the issue. The episode also highlights the broader GOP struggle over foreign policy and oversight, as some members push for a more aggressive stance against Iran while others worry about the political fallout.
