If Massie’s impeachment bid is a stunt, why not vote it down?

House Speaker Mike Johnson has sent lawmakers home a day early for the midterm campaign, preventing the House from considering Thomas Massie’s attempt to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before the election.

On 16 September, Johnson said he would schedule consideration of Massie’s resolution because “we have to, but it’s not going to pass.” Hours later, Republican leaders cancelled the House’s scheduled Thursday voting session and began a recess lasting more than a month.

Massie had introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth as a privileged resolution, alleging violations connected to the Iran war. His allegations are not adjudicated findings.

Under House procedure, a privileged impeachment resolution must be considered within two legislative days. That does not necessarily mean a direct vote on impeachment: the House can table the resolution, refer it to committee or vote on the articles themselves. With Thursday’s session cancelled, that consideration will now wait until lawmakers return.

Johnson calls Massie’s effort a “stunt.”

If it is a stunt, dispose of it on the record.

Massie may have had little prospect of persuading the House to impeach Hegseth. That is not the interesting part. Johnson had publicly said the House would deal with the resolution and predicted it would fail. Cancelling the final session removed the need to do so before representatives returned home to ask voters for another term.

Massie is also pursuing another politically sensitive issue: further disclosure of government files connected to Jeffrey Epstein.

That effort is at a different stage. Massie and Republican Rep. Nancy Mace are trying to secure enough signatures for a discharge petition that could force another Epstein-related measure towards a floor vote. As of 15 September, Axios reported that they were still one Republican signature short, with any resulting showdown already expected after the election.

The early recess therefore did not cancel an imminent Epstein vote in the way it halted consideration of the Hegseth resolution.

Nor does the scheduling decision prove Johnson sent lawmakers home specifically to avoid either issue. Massie alleges the calendar is being manipulated to avoid difficult votes; Johnson says the House has completed its work and has defended its legislative record.

What the schedule did accomplish is simpler.

Representatives will campaign through the midterms without having dealt with a Hegseth impeachment resolution their Speaker had said they would consider.

They should vote first.

Then they can explain that vote to the people whose support they are asking for.

Sources

• Associated Press – Speaker Johnson recesses the House early as Rep. Thomas Massie pushes Hegseth impeachment
• Rep. Thomas Massie – Hegseth impeachment allegations
• Bloomberg Law – Hegseth impeachment bid will fail, Speaker Mike Johnson says
• Congressional Research Service – The impeachment process in the House of Representatives
• Axios – House GOP’s Epstein files headache is back