House to leave early, punting Hegseth impeachment vote until after November elections

House lawmakers will leave Washington on Wednesday night for the last time before the November midterm elections, after GOP leaders said they were canceling votes set for Thursday.

The change in schedule means that the House won't vote on Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky's resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth until after Election Day.

GOP leaders insisted their decision had nothing to do with Massie's impeachment efforts. But they were eager to avoid a difficult vote for many of their vulnerable Republican members who have been uneasy with Hegseth's leadership during the unpopular six-month war with Iran.

Talking to reporters Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., slammed the Massie impeachment effort as "ridiculous" and defended Hegseth.

"It's a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention. It will immediately be tabled, of course. ... We'll probably do it when we come back, but it's a stunt," Johnson said (tabling would effectively kill the measure). "Secretary Hegseth has done an extraordinary job, the Department of War. We're in the middle of international conflicts right now, and we should not be playing games with national security."

Massie filed his resolution to impeach Hegseth as "privileged" on Tuesday, meaning the House would need to act on it within two legislative days. That set up a vote no later than Thursday, but then GOP leaders scrapped votes that day, pushing the impeachment vote until after the election.

The House is slated to return to Washington on Nov. 9. Meanwhile, the Senate will remain in session for the next three weeks.

Johnson, who is fighting to preserve his razor-thin GOP majority, said he wanted his members to return home and get back on the campaign trail.

"It's time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case to the American people, to go and explain all the great things we've done. You've seen the record. You've seen what we've delivered ... the largest middle- and working-class tax cut in U.S. history. We have the violent crime rate at a 126-year low," Johnson said.

It's "an extraordinary record of achievement," he added, "and so I'm excited for my Republican colleagues to go home and talk to the American people, work in their districts, and explain to them not only serving their constituents but explaining to them all the great things we've done for them and all the things we're going to do in the days ahead."

Massie, who has served in Congress since 2012, has clashed repeatedly with House GOP leaders, President Donald Trump and Hegseth over the Iran war. The congressman voted for multiple Iran war powers resolutions to restrict Trump's military operations in Iran and Venezuela.

Last year, Trump and his political team recruited former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein to run against Massie in the GOP primary in Kentucky. In an unusual move, Hegseth campaigned for Gallrein one day before the May primary election. Massie lost.

On Tuesday, with no advance warning, Massie took to the House floor and began reading his impeachment resolution.

Hegseth "has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution, if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law," Massie said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com