House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is being accused of running away from a bipartisan effort to hold an impeachment vote on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the Republican driver of that effort, accused House GOP leadership of sending lawmakers back to their districts early in order to avoid a vote on his resolution to impeach Hegseth.
“And there it is. Just as I predicted,” Massie wrote in a social media post Wednesday. “They’re canceling Congress tomorrow to avoid the vote on IMPEACHING @SecWar.”
The drama came just a day after Massie introduced eight impeachment articles against Hegseth, accusing the Defense Secretary of conducting an illegal war against Iran, among other charges.
The Kentucky Republican did not share his plans for impeachment with House GOP leadership ahead of time, saying he was concerned they would try to prevent him from introducing the privileged resolution.
A privileged resolution forces the House speaker to bring the resolution up for a vote within 48 hours.
In avoiding bringing up the resolution to a vote, Johnson is seemingly protecting some of his most vulnerable members ahead of the midterm elections, making sure they can avoid having to cast a politically risky vote — pitting them against the Trump administration and its deeply unpopular war on Iran.
Several House Democrats joined Massie’s accusation on Wednesday, saying Johnson and GOP leadership decided to send the chamber home early to avoid the vote, which, they said, would have had bipartisan support.
“Here is the reality. We have the votes to impeach Pete Hegseth tomorrow,” Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) said in a social media post Wednesday. “Mike Johnson knows it, we know it. So he’s sending us all home to avoid the vote.”
“I think it shows the cowardice of the Republican Party,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) also chimed in on Wednesday of the leaderships’ decision to send the House home early. “They are cancelling votes to do business for the American people because they are afraid that that impeachment resolution of Pete Hegseth would pass on a bipartisan basis. The American people deserve better than Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump.”
Other House Democrats also called out Johnson for sending the lower chamber home early to avoid the vote on Hegseth.
“Mike Johnson just canceled votes. He doesn’t want a vote on stopping the war, releasing more of the Epstein files, or impeaching Pete Hegseth,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said on social media.
“He knows that, come January, he will not be Speaker of the House,” Khanna added. “The last thing Congress needs is a vacation. When we take back the House, we will be working overtime.”
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) also called out Johnson and House GOP leadership “cowards” for cancelling votes and sending the House home until after the midterm elections.
“Last night, articles of impeachment were introduced against Pete Hegseth, the most incompetent, immoral SecDef in history,” Ryan said on Wednesday. “Today, the COWARDS in charge cancelled the impeachment vote and sent us home until November. Yet another pathetic dereliction of duty by @MikeJohnson.”
