House Republicans send lawmakers home early ahead of Hegseth impeachment vote

The House was expected to vote Thursday on articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — but last-minute scheduling changes mean lawmakers will now leave Washington until November.WASHINGTON (CN) — The House of Representatives is skipping town ahead of the midterm elections, as Republican leadership Wednesday announced lawmakers would no longer vote Thursday — including on a controversial measure aimed at removing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.The House GOP, staring down the barrel of a high-stakes November election, had already called off work for the last two weeks in September to give members additional time to campaign. But the latest move by party leadership gets that process started even earlier than expected.By starting recess on Thursday, Republicans will also sidestep a vote on Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie’s articles of impeachment against Hegseth. Massie, a Republican who has become increasingly critical of the Trump administration, accused the Pentagon chief of violating the 1973 War Powers Resolution by continuing the war in Iran without congressional approval.It wasn’t clear whether the impeachment articles against Hegseth would have enough votes to clear the House, even with all Democrats supporting Massie. Still, the lower chamber would have been forced to hold such a vote on Thursday in a move that could have been embarrassing for Republicans in advance of a midterm election that will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump and his administration.Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Massie predicted House leadership would cancel votes to prevent lawmakers from casting ballots on his impeachment resolution, pointing to what he said were past efforts to block a vote on his resolution forcing the release of the Epstein files.“I didn’t give anybody a heads up, because when they found out I was doing the Epstein discharge petition, they canceled two weeks of Congress,” said the Kentucky Republican. “I think if they found out I was going to do this, they might have canceled even more days.”Reading his articles of impeachment on the House floor, Massie said Hegseth had acted in a manner “subversive of constitutional government.” He accused not only accused the defense secretary of violating the war powers resolution in the Iran war but also undertaking the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug traffickers in international waters and kidnapping a foreign leader, former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in January.Massie also pointed to efforts by the Pentagon to “retaliate” against Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who participated in a video with other military veterans in Congress urging service members not to comply with unlawful orders from the Trump administration.Democrats, meanwhile, have already taken aim at Republicans for cutting this month’s session short.“It is outrageous, beyond the pale, that Republicans sent us on an extended August recess, and now just two weeks later they are cutting Congress short to send us home once again,” said Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari during a news conference Wednesday morning.“We just need a few Republicans to stand up to Donald Trump and join us,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries concurred. “Instead, they have decided to cancel votes and run out of town without providing any relief to hardworking American taxpayers.”The House will remain out of session through the month of October and until the midterm elections the month after. Lawmakers will return to session Nov. 9, potentially in a lame-duck Republican Congress. The Senate, for its part, will remain in Washington through Oct. 1.Recent polling shows Democrats with as much as an 11-point lead over Republicans for control of the House following the midterms. And a New York Times poll published Tuesday suggests some of the shift away from the GOP is thanks to Trump’s unpopularity and the perception that his party is more extreme and more corrupt than Democrats.If Democrats wrest control of one or both chambers of Congress in November, they’ve vowed to supercharge oversight on the president and his administration.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads