Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., filed eight articles of impeachment against Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
Under House rules, the House would have to consider Massie’s articles by tomorrow.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is sending the House home early today.
There will be no session tomorrow. That means the House won’t reconvene for business until after the midterms in mid-November.
Massie contends that Johnson sent everyone home early to avoid a vote related to Hegseth.
If the House had brought up Massie’s impeachment articles, Republicans would likely have offered “a motion to table.” This is an effort to kill Massie’s gambit.
Thus, the vote would not have been on impeaching Hegseth, but whether or not to set aside Massie’s plan.
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If the House were to table Massie’s articles of impeachment, the gig is up. It’s done.
The House never even considered the actual impeachment resolutions.
But if the motion to table fails, the House then considers the articles of impeachment.
The motion to table inoculates members from having to take a tough vote on the actual issue.
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I asked Massie the following:
Pergram: That would have put them in a tough spot because they would have had to vote on it. Would it have passed?
Massie: “A vote on a motion to table. He may not have survived that vote.”
In other words, Massie believes the House could have defeated the motion to table.
That would have triggered votes on actually impeaching Hegseth.
And, from Massie’s viewpoint, that’s why Johnson sent the House home.
