House speaker Mike Johnson calls early recess amid AI regulation push

The Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, announced on Wednesday that he would again cancel votes scheduled for Thursday, sending lawmakers home one day early ahead of the midterm election recess.

The latest change to the legislative schedule means House members will avoid voting on Republican Thomas Massie’s resolution to impeach the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and comes amid a frenzied attempt to propose legislation on artificial intelligence.

It’s the latest round of cancellations at the hands of Johnson, who had already cut the pre-election session short by two weeks. Democrats have reacted angrily, encouraging Johnson to keep lawmakers on Capitol Hill before the midterm recess beginning on Friday.

“I think it shows the cowardice of the Republican party. They are canceling votes to do business for the American people because they are afraid that that impeachment resolution of Pete Hegseth would pass on a bipartisan basis,” the Democratic representative Pramila Jayapal told MediasTouch.

Lawmakers also hoped to address regulating AI development after industry executives and whistleblowers expressed a dire need for oversight. Johnson, however, has been reluctant to intervene – aligning himself with Donald Trump.

“We cannot have a moratorium on the development of AI,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “Because then we will lose our edge to China, and that has serious national security implications for every American family.”

More than 100 House Democrats had urged Johnson, via a letter, to cancel the upcoming recess to allow them to craft legislation on AI safeguards.

In a notice on Wednesday, House leadership told members that other votes on EPA regulations, originally planned for Thursday, would instead take place on Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for Johnson characterized the House speaker’s latest move as simply moving up scheduled votes, not canceling future votes.

Speaking to reporters outside of his office on Wednesday, Johnson said he was modifying the schedule because “the House has done its work”. Johnson said he wanted members to return to their districts to spend time with constituents ahead of the election.

“You’ve seen the statistics we’ve been talking about for the last few days. This House has been the second most productive in terms of legislation in the history of the institution since 1789,” Johnson said, repeating a claim he also made earlier this month at the Republican midterm convention.

However, so far, the current session has fallen short of passing legislation to surpass the two previous House sessions, according to the fact-checking website Snopes.

Johnson also addressed Massie’s impeachment resolution, calling it “a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention”. The House speaker insisted it would be “immediately” postponed and he would not address it before the recess because the US is in the middle of international conflicts.

Lawmakers will likely face a busy legislative agenda when they return to Capitol Hill after election day in November. Among their priorities will be addressing Massie’s resolution on impeaching Hegseth because it was filed as privileged, which fast-tracks the resolution.