House races for exit, avoiding vote on Hegseth impeachment

descriptions off, selected

captions settings, opens captions settings dialog

captions off, selected

This is a modal window.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

End of dialog window.

The Hill's Headlines (PM) - September 16, 2026

The Hill's Headlines (PM) - September 16, 2026

House lawmakers raced for the exits on Wednesday, trimming their final week in Washington ahead of the midterm elections and kicking a controversial vote to impeach Pete Hegseth into the lame duck session.

House GOP leaders scrapped votes scheduled for Thursday, when the resolution to remove the Defense secretary was expected to hit the floor.

The move sent lawmakers onto the campaign trail a day early, as both parties race for House control next year. And it fixed in place the legislative accomplishments Republicans are able to tout heading into those elections, leaving a number of their policy priorities stewing in the Senate.

But it was the Hegseth issue getting the most attention. The impeachment push, which Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) unveiled on Tuesday, had caught Republicans off guard and GOP leaders were eager to avoid a vote that might hurt lawmakers in tough races. Democrats and Massie quickly accused GOP leaders of vacating Thursday’s session to avoid that vote.

“And there it is. Just as I predicted. They’re canceling Congress tomorrow to avoid the vote on IMPEACHING @SecWar,” Massie, a vocal critic of the Trump White House, wrote on X.

“These people are such incredible cowards,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a video clip, referring to Republicans. “Mike Johnson and Donald Trump are so afraid that the Republicans and Democrats in Congress would vote for that resolution of impeachment and that it would pass because they know that what Pete Hegseth has done, his role in driving us into this war, is absolutely wrong, and he needs to be held accountable for it.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) quickly dismissed the criticisms, telling reporters that it’s........

© The Hill