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House sends members home early for recess
September 17, 2026
Speaker Mike Johnson canceled Thursday votes and sent House members into a seven-week campaign recess, heading off a vote on impeaching Pete Hegseth.
Mike Johnson is the Republican speaker of the House; Thomas Massie is a Republican member pressing a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom Attorney General Todd Blanche has defended.
Key facts
- The Guardian reports that upward of 100 Democrats in the House had written to Johnson asking him to scrap the coming recess so they could work on AI safeguard legislation.
- Per CNN, Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that lawmakers would leave Washington ahead of schedule for a seven-week stretch of campaigning before the midterms, a step that heads off any vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- CNN reports that the chamber's Republicans had expected to stay in session through Thursday, and will instead cast their final votes Wednesday evening on a Russia sanctions measure the White House has pushed as a priority before departing.
- CNN reports that Attorney General Todd Blanche came to Hegseth's defense on Tuesday as the impeachment effort gathered steam, saying the secretary "follows the law."
- The Guardian reports that Mike Johnson, the chamber's Republican speaker, said Wednesday he would scrap Thursday's scheduled votes once more, letting lawmakers depart a day sooner than planned before the midterm recess.
CNN reports Speaker Mike Johnson's decision, announced Wednesday, to release members for a seven week break before the midterms, which removes any floor action on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Guardian reports the cancellation of Thursday's voting as one more in a series from Johnson, whose calendar before the election had already lost two weeks, and it reports that environmental regulation votes set for Thursday were moved up to Wednesday afternoon. AP News, in its own account, links a Republican member's impeachment effort to the shortened calendar. Politico reports that Johnson has dropped a further day of session. The Hill carries Thomas Massie's assertion that party leaders located additional Republicans prepared to back him.
On the mechanics, the outlets agree. CNN and The Guardian both report that Massie's measure came with procedural force that put leaders under a deadline to schedule it, and both report Wednesday evening as the final round of voting, on sanctions aimed at Russia. CNN reports Johnson urging members, in remarks to reporters, to spend the break with constituents and argue their case there. The Guardian reports his dismissal of the measure as an attention seeking gesture. CNN also reports Attorney General Todd Blanche speaking up for Hegseth on Tuesday, on the argument that the secretary keeps within the law.
The split in the coverage runs along party lines rather than along the facts. The Guardian reports Democratic representative Pramila Jayapal accusing Republicans of cowardice and of dropping votes because a bipartisan majority might remove Hegseth, while Johnson presents the break as time with voters and says the measure waits until after it, with international conflicts as his reason. The Guardian also reports a letter from more than 100 House Democrats asking Johnson to keep the chamber in session for work on artificial intelligence rules. Every account settles the calendar change and what it does to the impeachment vote. None of them settles when the measure gets a vote.
“It’s time for our members to go home to their districts and make the case to the American people,” Johnson said.
Johnson
Still developing
The resolution has not come to the floor, and lawmakers are not expected back in Washington until after the November elections.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- CNN — House to adjourn early, stave off Hegseth impeachment vote
- The Guardian — House speaker calls early recess before midterms amid AI regulation frenzy
- AP News — GOP lawmaker pushes Hegseth impeachment as House recesses early, tens of thousands people flee in Yemen
- Politico — Mike Johnson cancels another House session day
- The Hill — Massie: GOP leaders found ‘other Republicans’ who would join Hegseth impeachment push
Toggle read the full reports of 2 of the 5 outlets counted on this event. The other 3 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.