Daniel Wolfram
A Republican lawmaker says the real reason for canceling is because of Epstein and Hegseth.
The House just returned in the first week of September after a five-week summer recess.
There were big plans for the small Republican majority to get some legislation done right before the midterm election commences.
The Speaker of the House had other ideas as he just gave them all a break until after the midterms.
Johnson calls off the rest of September
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, decided to cancel the remaining weeks of September and they will no longer vote on bills and legislation before the midterm election in November.
“This Congress has done phenomenal work, and the members are jostling a lot of different priorities right now,” Speaker Mike Johnson told the press after the decision was announced.
This comes after a long summer recess, during which the 435 voting members had five weeks off from the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Massie says the real reason is Epstein and Hegseth
Thomas Massie, the outgoing Republican Representitive from Kentucky, recently suggested that Mike Johnson would keep Congress out of session to avoid voting on the new Epstein Files Transparency Act that would disclose all of the documents and information in the Epstein files that they are alleging the Department of Justice is deliberately delaying.
Massie accused Johnson of an “attempt to stymie our latest Epstein bill,” while Johnson called the allegation “stupid” and “nonsensical.”
In that same press gaggle, Johnson also stated that they would abide by the House calendar that has been out for a year and shows they would be working the last two weeks of September.
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But just a few days after that direct rebuttal to Massie’s accusation, Johnson did in fact, cancel the last two weeks.
Other Republicans back Johnson
While Massie took a victory lap online about his prediction of Johnson shutting down Congress, others were quick to defend the Speaker.
“It’s helpful for people who are campaigning,” Rep. Morgan Griffith from Virginia said. “When we’ve passed so many bills and they’re just languishing in the sauna of the Senate, then you know, why would we pass more bills to go over there not to be done?”
Thomas Massie created the first Epstein Transparency Act bill with Democrat Ro Khanna. The bill has since created major news and headlines on accusations of a cover-up because the Trump administration has been reluctant to release the files in full.
The recess was expedited because of Hegseth
Massie also claims that the GOP leadership feared that a majority would back the impeachment of Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and that is why Johnson was so busy sending everyone home.
“If there was any other reason that they canceled tomorrow’s day of session, they could have had the Hegseth vote tonight… [Johnson] could have had the vote yesterday as soon as I introduced the articles; he could have done it today before he adjourned Congress,” Massie told Kaitlin Collins on CNN last night.
The Epstein files continue to haunt Republicans
According to The New York Times, Donald Trump is mentioned 38,000 times in the files that have already been released.
Trump has also appointed his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche as United States Attorney General.
Critics say he is placed in that role because of his willingness to not release the rest of the Epstein files. Blanche, on the other hand, claims that all of the files have been released, while the DOJ says only half of the six million files are available to the public.
Thomas Massie is out of Congress next year as he lost his primary election in Kentucky to a candidate backed by Trump. It seems he will not get to see his Epstein Transparency Act fully realized.
