House heading home early 

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Today's Top Stories - September 16, 2026

Today's Top Stories - September 16, 2026

It’s Wednesday, or Hump Day since the Geico camel commercials have returned 🐪 (“Uh oh…Guess what day it is?”). 

Federal Reserve expected to raise rates

Senate Republicans plan spending cuts

Trump to campaign with Whatley

Kash Patel strikes back

Programming note: We’re Joshua Feldstein and Abigail Walker, filling in for Cate today. Please send us your tips, comments and story ideas to jfeldstein@thehill.com and awalker@thehill.com. 

That was an exhausting…three days of work for House members: 

House GOP leaders have made the call to cancel Thursday’s votes, starting recess a day early. We won’t be seeing members back in Washington, D.C., until after the midterms.

Democrats had urged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to keep the House in session to work on legislation around artificial intelligence (AI) safety.

Rep. George Whitesides (D-Calif.) said Monday that “we need to have a safety stand-down with AI for at least one month for all companies.” However, Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) have dismissed calls for a urgent response or hefty regulations. 

💬 Follow today’s live blog 

Looming Hegseth vote: The weekslong House recess means members won’t have to vote on Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) move to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth until after November’s election.  

Once Massie introduced the impeachment resolution on Tuesday, it initiated a 48-hour clock for a vote to be called to the House floor.  

Johnson said Wednesday the resolution would have been quickly tabled — effectively putting Massie’s motion on hold.  

But that still would have required Republicans to go on the record with a politically sensitive vote related to the divisive Pentagon chief and unpopular Iran war.  

With the House now out until Nov. 9, after Johnson canceled the last two weeks of September sessions earlier this month, that’s a later problem.  

“Oh, let me talk about the impeachment vote. That’s ridiculous. It’s a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention,” Johnson told reporters.  

“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.” 

🔎 Read more on the developing House recess 

➤ SPENDING CUTS ON THE HORIZON

Trump’s allies in the Senate are setting up to slash tens of billions of dollars in federal spending following the midterm elections.  

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton: Thune announced Tuesday the Senate would not move on a reconciliation package until after the election on Nov. 3.  

It will likely be necessary for Republicans to move emergency defense funding to help cover the costs of the Iran war and a boost to the Pentagon’s base budget through........

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