House cutting week short before adjourning until after midterms

Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday canceled votes in the chamber that were planned for Thursday, cutting the work week short and sending members home until after the November midterm elections.

Lawmakers will be away from Washington for more than six weeks, avoiding potentially controversial votes and intraparty fighting before voters head to the polls. Johnson previously canceled votes for the last two weeks in September.

"The House has done its work," Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters at the Capitol. "It's time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case to the American people."

Before leaving town, the House is expected to vote on legislation to impose new sanctions on Russia and a bill to shield consumers from data center energy costs. But lawmakers' exodus from Washington will also leave some outstanding issues in limbo until they return following the elections.

Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican from South Carolina, said canceling Thursday's votes is "unacceptable."

"The House has now canceled at least 63 scheduled voting days this Congress, including nine days this month alone, and now we're leaving Washington until after the election," he wrote on X . "The Founders did not envision taking this much time off and still getting paid. If Members of Congress want to go home and campaign instead of doing the job taxpayers sent us here to do, then their campaigns ought to be paying them, NOT the American taxpayer. We still have work to do."

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, on Tuesday introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war. The resolution is privileged, meaning Johnson has two legislative days to act on it. The cancellation of Thursday's votes pushes the issue to early November, when Johnson indicated Republicans will move to kill it.

Johnson said it was "ridiculous" to suggest that canceling Thursday's votes was meant to avoid the vote on impeaching Hegseth.

"It's a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention. It will immediately be tabled, of course," he said.

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday night, Massie said he did not give GOP leaders a heads-up about his plan.

"I didn't want to show my hand," he said. "I didn't show it to anybody. I was afraid that they would do something to subvert me getting on the floor for an hour and 20 minutes and reading these articles."

Johnson also rebuffed calls by Democrats who wanted to cancel the recess to address rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. After AI industry leaders and researchers raised alarm about potentially catastrophic threats posed by the technology in recent weeks, Democratic lawmakers called on Johnson to keep the House in session until they can pass legislation to rein in AI.

"Congress should not leave town until something is done decisively to protect the safety and the well-being of the American people, in the face of growing concerns being raised by experts within the artificial intelligence industry itself," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Monday.