House Republicans’ pre-midterm getaway triggered a fight inside the party Wednesday when Rep. Thomas Massie accused GOP leaders of shutting down the chamber to avoid his impeachment case against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Massie (R-KY) said the altered calendar threatened two targets at once: his privileged resolution against Hegseth and a separate Epstein-related petition that still needed more lawmaker support.
“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 revised schedule, sent by GOP Whip Tom Emmer’s (R-MN) office, removed one day from the House’s last working week before the midterm elections.
Massie had filed eight impeachment articles a day earlier, building the case around Hegseth’s handling of military force, war powers disputes, alleged deaths of suspected drug smugglers and other claimed abuses.
I joined @kaitlancollins on @TheSourceCNN to discuss why Congress is adjourning early.
Leaving Washington tomorrow prevents a vote on my Articles of Impeachment against SecDef Hegseth & stops us from securing the last 2 signatures needed for our EFTA II discharge petition. pic.twitter.com/EPE4WWWHzt
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 17, 2026
His office anchored the Iran portion of the resolution in the War Powers Resolution of 1973, accusing Hegseth of “operating in contravention of three specific provisions” of that law.
Massie told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that he did not alert Republican leaders ahead of time because he feared they would block his floor strategy before he could spend an hour and 20 minutes reading the articles.
“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.
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The Tuesday filing, Massie said, was meant to force House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to deal with the resolution before members left town.
“He could call the vote tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and that was another reason for the timing,” Massie said of Johnson. “If I were to offer this tomorrow instead of today, they could have punted this until after the election.”
Johnson brushed off the impeachment threat as attention-seeking and said the House would have moved to table it quickly.
“Oh, let me talk about the impeachment vote. That’s ridiculous. It’s a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention,” Johnson told reporters.
The speaker defended Hegseth’s leadership at the Department of War and said national security should not become a venue for political games while international conflicts are underway.
“Secretary Hegseth has done an extraordinary job at the Department of War. We’re in the middle of international conflicts right now, and we should not be playing games with national security,” Johnson said.
The impeachment articles said Hegseth used U.S. Armed Forces against the Islamic Republic of Iran without Congress approving the action or declaring war.
Massie’s resolution accused Hegseth of having “executed unlawful orders” tied to U.S. involvement in the Iran war and said he had “directed and caused” American forces to enter hostilities.
The Iran allegations also said Hegseth kept American forces in the fight after the House and Senate passed a concurrent war powers resolution directing the president to remove troops from “unauthorized hostilities.”
Because that measure was concurrent, it did not carry the legal force needed to compel President Donald Trump’s administration to comply.
“By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable,” Massie said. “Secretary Hegseth’s constitutional violations extend beyond the illegal war in Iran.”
Beyond Iran, Massie’s articles reached into Yemen, alleged foreign leader kidnappings, deaths in international waters and claims that Hegseth punished critics of the Trump administration for protected speech.
“He is abusing the power of his office to ignore congressional war powers resolutions, to kidnap foreign leaders, and to intimidate critics of the Trump administration by retaliating against them for exercising free speech,” Massie said. “If we are to remain true to our oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States,’ Congress must not turn a blind eye to Secretary Hegseth’s unconstitutional and illegal actions.”
Massie said Hegseth oversaw at least 221 deaths in international waters and intimidated Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) after Kelly urged service members to “refuse illegal orders.”
The resolution warned that Hegseth would “remain a threat to the Constitution” if he stayed in office.
The shortened week also collided with Massie’s separate work with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on follow-up legislation to the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The House passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act last year, and Massie said Tuesday night that the new bipartisan discharge petition had about 190 signatures, leaving it short of the 218 needed.
Johnson, meanwhile, argued the chamber had already earned its exit.
“The House has done it’s work,” Johnson told reporters after Wednesday’s revised calendar was released.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has canceled Thursday’s planned votes, sending members home early ahead of the November midterm elections and telling reporters Wednesday that the House has “done its work.”
“It’s time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case… pic.twitter.com/TFDS590Ora
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 16, 2026
He said members needed to return to their districts before the midterms to talk to constituents and defend the House record.
“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,” Johnson said.
Johnson pointed to roughly 600 House-passed bills, including the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility America Act, that he said were still awaiting Senate action.
“I’ll point out that there’s almost 600 pieces of that landmark legislation that are still sitting over in the other chamber in the Senate,” Johnson stated. “This Congress has done phenomenal work and the members are wrestling a lot of different priorities right now.”
The House is due back Nov. 9 after the midterm elections, following Johnson’s earlier move to shorten the final two weeks of the September session.
Before members left Washington, the House sent Trump a Russia sanctions bill named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 would hit Russian leadership, banks and the oil “shadow fleet,” while also requiring tariffs of up to 100% on goods from the five largest importers of Russian oil and gas and up to 500% on goods imported from Russia.
Some Democrats objected to handing Trump expanded tariff authority despite backing Ukraine.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said his “no” vote came down to the potential cost for Americans.
“Life is way too expensive in the United States of America. Why in the world would this Congress or the People’s House give this president unfettered authority to visit more tariffs on the world that will have an adverse economic impact on the American people?” Jeffries said. “I can’t do it.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), one of two Democrats who helped move the bill forward Tuesday night, said on X that Congress “must do everything within its power to ensure that a democratic Ukraine wins the war against an authoritarian Russia.”
