2026-09-16T15:58:03.401Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：莎拉·费里斯、劳伦·福克斯
更新于2026年9月16日，美国东部时间上午11:59
发布于2026年9月16日，美国东部时间上午11:58
（注：原文图片占位符，保留格式）芬恩·戈麦斯/盖蒂图片社
美国国防部部长皮特·赫格斯瑟于7月21日在华盛顿国会山出席参议院拨款委员会听证会并作证后离开会场。
众议院议长迈克·约翰逊于周三宣布，将提前让议员们返回各自选区，开启为期七周的竞选休会，为中期选举做准备。此举将避免就弹劾国防部长皮特·赫格斯瑟进行投票。
众议院共和党议员原计划将议事日程延长至周四，但现在将在周三晚间就白宫的一项核心优先议题——俄罗斯制裁法案——进行最后一轮投票，随后离京。众议院议员预计将于11月中期选举结束后返回华盛顿。
“现在是我们的议员返回各自选区、向美国民众阐明立场的时候了，”约翰逊对记者表示。
众议院共和党议员早已急于离京。他们此前一直情绪低落，既要面对要求他们就人工智能、关税等争议性议题采取行动的日益增大的政治压力，又要因能否在中期选举中保住众议院席位而焦虑不安。
随后又出现了新的麻烦：共和党同僚托马斯·马西众议员宣布，将推动一场史无前例的弹劾投票，指控赫格斯瑟在处理美国对伊朗战争事务中存在不当行为。由于他的弹劾决议享有特殊程序权限，启动了一项立法倒计时程序，要求共和党领导层在未来几天内将该决议提交全院表决。
但如今，共和党人找到了推迟此次投票的办法：提前休会，将投票延后至11月。
当被问及共和党领导层取消议事日程是否是为了保护议员免受弹劾赫格斯瑟这一政治上棘手的投票影响时，约翰逊表示，此次休会与这位国防部长无关。
但约翰逊批评了马西的突然发难。
“这是某个想要博取关注的人搞的噱头，当然会立刻被搁置。不过我们今天不会这么做，等我们回来后再处理，”约翰逊说。“我们不应拿国家安全开玩笑。”
在这份长达34页的弹劾决议中，马西指出，赫格斯瑟在领导美国对伊朗战争的过程中多次滥用职权，包括执行非法命令、未经国会授权继续部署军队。
他认为，赫格斯瑟“若继续留任，将继续对宪法构成威胁，其行为严重违背了其职责和法治原则”。马西曾在众议院议场耗时数小时朗读这份决议。
面对弹劾攻势，美国司法部长托德·布兰奇于周二为赫格斯瑟辩护，称其“遵纪守法”。
“赫格斯瑟部长表现出色，国防部部长不会随心所欲地行事。因此，他遵守法律。司法部在这方面发挥着作用，我们将积极确保法律得到遵守，”布兰奇在白宫玫瑰园举行的新闻发布会上说道。
这份弹劾决议涉及的不止伊朗问题。马西还指责赫格斯瑟所谓在委内瑞拉“绑架主权外国领导人”，即当时的总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗被逮捕一事。他指控五角大楼“以禁毒执法为幌子绑架委内瑞拉国家领导人，实则旨在掌控委内瑞拉的石油储备”。
Speaker Johnson sending House home early, staving off Hegseth impeachment vote over Iran war
2026-09-16T15:58:03.401Z / CNN
By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox
Updated Sep 16, 2026, 11:59 AM ET
PUBLISHED Sep 16, 2026, 11:58 AM ET
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth leaves after testifying during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washgington, DC, on July 21.
Finn Gomez/Getty Images
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday announced he is sending members home from Washington early for their seven-week campaigning recess ahead of the midterm elections, a move that will stave off a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
House Republicans had planned to remain in session until Thursday, but will now take their last votes Wednesday evening on a major White House priority — a Russia sanctions bill — and then leave town. The next time House lawmakers are expected back in Washington will be after the November elections.
“It’s time for our members to go home to their districts and make the case to the American people,” Johnson told reporters.
House GOP lawmakers were already eager to get out of town. They’d been in a dour mood, faced with growing political pressure to act on contentious issues like artificial intelligence and tariffs, all while anxiety rises over their ability to hold the chamber in the midterms.
Then came a new headache: One of their fellow Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie, announced he would be forcing an unprecedented vote to impeach Hegseth over his handling of the US war with Iran. Because his resolution carries special procedural powers, it started a legislative clock that required GOP leaders to put it on the floor in the coming days.
But now, Republicans have found a way to stall that vote by leaving early and postponing it until November.
Asked if GOP leaders were canceling session to protect members from a politically difficult vote to impeach Hegseth, Johnson said the move had nothing to do with the defense secretary.
But Johnson attacked Massie for his surprise push.
“It is a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention. It will immediately be tabled of course. But we probably won’t do that today, we will do it when we come back,” Johnson said. “We should not be playing games with national security.”
In his 34-page resolution, Massie argued that Hegseth has repeatedly abused the powers of his office in leading the US war with Iran, including carrying out unlawful orders and continuing to keep troops deployed without authorization from Congress.
Hegseth, he argued, “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 spent multiple hours reading aloud his resolution on the House floor.
Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday defended Hegseth in light of the impeachment push, arguing that he “follows the law.”
“Secretary Hegseth is doing a phenomenal job, and the secretary of war doesn’t just go off and do things. So, he follows the law. And so the DOJ plays a role in that, and we play an active role in making sure the laws are complied with,” Blanche said while holding a press briefing in the White House Rose Garden.
The impeachment resolution touched on more than Iran. Massie also took aim at Hegseth for what he called the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader” in Venezuela, referring to the capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro. He accused the Pentagon of kidnapping the nation’s leader “under the guise of narcotics law enforcement, though in actuality intended to assert U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil reserves.”