Massie says his move to impeach Hegseth is why Speaker suddenly dismissed the House

BS BULLETIN:

Rep. Thomas Massie says President Trump is making the midterm environment harder for Republicans.
Massie compared the political environment to 2006, when Republicans lost control of both chambers amid the Iraq War.
He pointed specifically to the Iran conflict and its impact on gasoline and diesel prices.

Rep. Thomas Massie isn’t exactly leaving Washington quietly.

The outgoing Kentucky Republican delivered another broadside against President Donald Trump Wednesday, arguing that the president is making the approaching midterm elections unnecessarily difficult for his own party.

Massie made the comments while speaking with reporters at the Capitol about the Iran war and the political consequences Republicans could face in November.

A reporter asked Massie whether the current environment resembles 2006, when Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate during George W. Bush’s presidency.

Massie said there was at least one significant similarity. “The thing that is the same is that there’s an unpopular war raging and Congress is not doing anything to rein it in,” Massie said.

He predicted that incumbents would suffer politically as a result.

Massie then turned directly to Trump. “This was Donald Trump’s election to lose, and he’s doing everything he can to lose it,” Massie said.

The congressman argued that even voters who aren’t focused primarily on the Iran conflict are feeling its economic consequences.

He specifically cited the prices of gasoline and diesel.

Massie’s remarks came during another turbulent day between the Kentucky Republican and his own party’s leadership.

He introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, accusing Hegseth of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors” in connection with U.S. military operations in Iran, Venezuela and Yemen.

Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House into an early recess Wednesday rather than allow the Hegseth measure to proceed to a vote.

Johnson has dismissed Massie’s impeachment effort as a “stunt” and defended the Republican-controlled House’s legislative record.

Massie, meanwhile, told CNN that he believes Republican leaders ended the session because they discovered other GOP lawmakers might support his effort against Hegseth.

That is Massie’s allegation; Republican leaders have not accepted his characterization.

The latest attack also comes after an extraordinarily bitter political break between Trump and Massie.

Trump backed Ed Gallrein against Massie in Kentucky’s Republican primary earlier this year. Massie lost that race in May but subsequently filed paperwork to seek the seat again in 2028.

Now, with his current congressional term winding down, Massie doesn’t appear particularly interested in mending fences.

MY QUICK TAKE

Well, so much for the farewell fruit basket.

Massie lost a Trump-backed primary and apparently decided his remaining time in Congress would be best spent saying absolutely everything on his mind.

At this rate, his exit interview is going to need its own congressional hearing.