🔻Criticism of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for ending sessions early

Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, on Wednesday canceled votes that were due to be held in the House on Thursday. As a result, the representatives’ workweek was shortened and they will return to their homes after the midterm elections in November—meaning about 6 more weeks.

The decision has faced اعتراض from some lawmakers who accuse the Republican Speaker of the House of trying to prevent votes on certain bills, including an impeachment proposal concerning Pete Hegseth, the U.S. (war) defense minister, which Thomas Massie, a Republican representative, had submitted to Congress the day before.

Ralph Norman, a Republican representative from the state of South Carolina, called the cancellation of Thursday’s votes “unacceptable” and wrote on the social media platform X:

“House Republicans have now canceled at least 63 planned days of voting in this congressional term; including 9 days only in the month of September. Now we’re leaving Washington until after the election. The founders of this country didn’t imagine that members of Congress would take this much time off and still be paid. If members of Congress want to go home and campaign instead of doing the work that taxpayers send them to Washington to do, the cost of their campaigns should be paid by their own campaign staffs—not by American taxpayers. We still have things to do.”