WASHINGTON, United States — Republican leaders abruptly ended voting in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, postponing consideration of a resolution to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth until after the November midterm elections.
Votes scheduled for Thursday were cancelled, allowing lawmakers to leave Washington a day earlier than planned.
The House is not scheduled to return until November 9, six days after the elections, according to its legislative calendar.
The decision delays action on a privileged impeachment resolution introduced by Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, over Hegseth’s conduct as defence secretary.
House Speaker Mike Johnson denied that the schedule change was connected to the impeachment effort.
However, cancelling Thursday’s sitting removed the final legislative day on which the chamber would have been required to consider Massie’s resolution before the election recess.
Privileged Resolution Forced House Action
Massie introduced the measure on Tuesday as a privileged resolution, a designation requiring the House to act within two legislative days.
Republican leaders could have moved to table the resolution, effectively killing it, but doing so would have required lawmakers to cast a politically sensitive recorded vote shortly before the elections.
Johnson called the impeachment effort a “publicity stunt” and said Republican leaders would seek to table it when the House returned.
“Secretary Hegseth has done an extraordinary job,” Johnson told reporters while defending the defence secretary.
Massie’s resolution contains eight articles of impeachment accusing Hegseth of violating federal law and congressional war powers through United States military operations in Iran and elsewhere.
“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 in a statement.
The resolution also accuses Hegseth of disregarding congressional directives, failing to comply with laws intended to limit civilian casualties, authorising extrajudicial military operations, and retaliating against critics of the Trump administration.
The allegations have not been adjudicated, and the Pentagon has defended Hegseth’s leadership.
Republicans Avoid Difficult Pre-Election Vote
Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House and are fighting to retain control of the chamber in the November 3 elections.
A vote on Hegseth could have placed Republican representatives from competitive districts in a difficult position, particularly as public dissatisfaction with the continuing war involving Iran has increased.
GOP leaders maintained that their decision to adjourn early was intended to allow members to return to their constituencies and campaign.
“It’s time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case to the American people,” Johnson said.
The House schedule change also delayed other legislative business.
Votes on Environmental Protection Agency regulations that had been planned for Thursday were moved to Wednesday afternoon before lawmakers departed, according to reports.
The Senate is expected to remain in session for another three weeks.
When House members return, Republican leaders are expected to move quickly to table Massie’s resolution.
Johnson predicted that the impeachment attempt would fail, but the delayed proceedings mean lawmakers will not have to publicly take a position on Hegseth until after voters have cast their midterm ballots.
