House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday ended voting at the end of the day and sent lawmakers home one day earlier than the scheduled start of their seven-week departure from Capitol Hill to campaign for the November midterm elections. 

GOP House leaders insisted their decision was not related to outgoing Kentucky Republican GOP Rep. Thomas Massie's legislative maneuver Tuesday to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. 

Nevertheless, the leaders canceling the vote keeps many of their vulnerable conference members uneasy with Hegseth’s leadership during the divisive six-month war with Iran from having to take a tough vote before the November elections. 

All 435 House seats are up for reelection on Nov. 3, with Democrats in position to retake the majority. 

Massie's maneuver was to file a resolution to impeach Hegseth through what is known as “privileged," meaning the House would need to act on it within two legislative days, which set up the vote for no later than Thursday.

“It’s a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention," Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said about the effort by Massie, whose primary loss this summer was in large part the result of President Trump and his political allies' displeasure with him.  Johnson also called the maneuver "ridiculous." 

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

Massie argued that Hegseth had illegally prosecuted the Iran war past the 60-day maximum for conflict without authorization from Congress. On Wednesday, the House for the third time voted to end the Iran was

Staffers for House GOP leadership staffers indicated in a notice to members that other votes expected Thursday – including the overturning of some EPA regulations, would now take place Wednesday evening. The House could also vote on holding hedge fund mogul Leon Black in contempt of Congress over his refusal to testify in the Oversight Committee’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation, according to NBC News. 

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.