The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Massie saying Johnson is sending the House home early to prevent Hegseth impeachment

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. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to send lawmakers home early could prevent the House from considering Rep. Thomas Massie’s impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

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. 

Rep. Thomas Massie has aruged that the House adjourned early to avoid a potentially consequential vote related to his impeachment effort against Hegseth. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

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. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is the subject of eight articles of impeachment filed by Rep. Thomas Massie. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In other words, Massie believes the House could have defeated the motion to table. 

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That would have triggered votes on actually impeaching Hegseth. 

And, from Massie’s standpoint, that’s why Johnson sent the House home.