House GOP leader Tom Emmer admitted he was surprised Tuesday when 11 Conservatives defeated a typically mundane procedural vote to stop the Biden administration from regulating gas stoves — in its latest rebellion against leadership.
“It was spontaneous,” Emmer, R-Minn., told of the rebel group’s latest plan to vent its anger at spokesman Kevin McCarthy.
The kitchen appliance once again found itself at the center of American politics when members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus voted to thwart Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s plans to advance four bills designed to prevent the Biden administration from regulating gas stoves.
Eleven of them voted “no” to the rule, the first time a procedural vote had failed in this way in two decades. The rebel group would likely have voted in favor of the bills, but chose to protest instead.
“It was spontaneous,” Tom Emmer, House GOP leader, told of the 11 “no” votes on the rule to advance gas stove legislation
The procedural vote failed with 206 to 220 votes, all Democrats were against.
The House of Representatives could vote on the rule again on Wednesday. When asked if it would happen this time, Emmer said, “It’s going to take some more discussion.”
The House of Representatives was originally scheduled to vote on the rule at 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, but the vote was delayed and it’s now unclear when it will be brought up again before the House plenary.
Republicans are boiling over: 11 conservatives who voted “no” to gas stoves
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas
Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana
Rep. Rob Bishop of North Carolina
Congressman Ken Buck of Colorado
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado
Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona
Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee
Congressman Ralph Norman of South Carolina
Rep. Bob Good of Virginia
“McCarthy lied, the rule is dead,” Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., wrote on Twitter after Tuesday’s vote.
“The leadership of the House of Representatives could not hold the line,” Gaetz tweeted on Wednesday before the second vote. “Now we keep our word.”
Members of the Freedom Caucus, along with Conservative ally Matt Gaetz, have voiced grievances against the Republican leadership — specifically, allegations that Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., has suffered retaliation for failing to comply with the Biden-McCarthy debt-limit agreement with ” No” voted .
Majority Leader Steve Scalise denied that he had held Clyde’s bill hostage because he opposed the debt ceiling agreement.
“The problem is with the counting of votes,” Scalise pointed out. “There are some members that aren’t there yet, and we’re working to get those members there.”
Emmer insisted he was not involved in any backroom threats.
“I don’t know of any – I won’t share from Andrews.” [Clyde] Tell me or anyone else. But we were not involved in that.’
Meanwhile, other members of the House GOP leadership began blaming each other, with Speaker McCarthy blaming Scalise by name for the riot.
“I think there’s a lot of different things, I just think it’s personality sometimes too, everyone has different things they get upset about.” “It all started with the Clyde thing with Scalise.”
Meanwhile, Scalise told reporters, “Obviously, some irritation was expressed at the debt ceiling deal, and even some perceived broken promises went back to the speaker’s contest in January… Other things came up as well.”
The Whip, a longtime hockey coach with a knack for sports analogies, said he was not aware of any threat, if there was one, and had long predicted difficulties in growth within the new Republican majority.
“This team has been extremely successful and has done things in the first five months that people never thought possible,” he said. “But I’ve said for the past five months, don’t expect us to always be successful. There will be a day when we will meet adversity, there will be a day when we will disagree. That’s what teams do. We’re going through this time right now.’
“We’re going to come out the other end even stronger than we came in.”
Tuesday’s dissent made for dramatic scenes in the House of Representatives, with Emmer and Scalise huddled in the background while conservative opponents tried to persuade them to change their vote.
Ten members of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) and their Conservative ally Matt Gaetz voted “no” to the bill on gas stove bills on Tuesday to show their displeasure with the debt deal
After the plenary protest, Clyde tweeted that he had received a commitment from leadership that his bill repealing a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) rule on gun mounts would be put to a plenary vote next Tuesday.
Still, the rabble-rousers said they believed McCarthy had breached “fundamental obligations” that ultimately earned him the gavel in the 15-ballot speaker election.
No such agreement has ever been formally written – so there is no way of knowing if the leadership will back away from an agreement with the Conservatives.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., complained that leadership did not allow the debt ceiling agreement to come about under open rule – which meant rank and file members were not allowed to put amendments to the vote. Some members said McCarthy promised them he would bring forth all laws under open rule.
Others were upset that more Democrats voted for the final package than Republicans, 171 versus 149. However, McCarthy indicated that two-thirds of the Republican conference supported the bill.
Gas stove opponents had already resisted the debt deal, which suspended the debt limit until January 2025 in exchange for budget cuts because it was not conservative enough.
“I think the speaker kept the agreements made,” said Emmer. “I can’t speak for the members, that’s their perception. That’s their reality.”
Some in the Freedom Caucus have already floated the idea of introducing a resignation motion — where a member can call a vote where only a simple majority can oust McCarthy from the post of speaker.
Emmer dismissed the possibility of such a game.
“I don’t think that’s even within the realm of reasonableness,” he said. “I know it’s interesting for anyone to speculate about.”
“McCarthy has the support.” We will resolve the current disagreement. And on the other hand, we will emerge as an even better team than we were back then.”
The group of lawmakers said it would oppose any legislation until it received written approval from McCarthy, in which she vowed to return to the January accord.
Opposition within the slim majority could be particularly problematic given the House’s upcoming priorities — the leadership wants to pass 12 budget bills to set spending, it needs to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and pass a new five-year farm bill, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorize.
“I’ll try to work with them as much as I can,” Emmer said of the 11 Republican members if they continue to get in the way of GOP priorities.
The politician said emotions were running high as the House of Representatives pushed through bipartisan bills in quick succession that failed in the Senate.
“You have a Senate that doesn’t want to do anything.” I mean, Chuck Schumer seems to be standing in the way of any progress. And I think our members feel that because they are not able to provide the solutions that would help people.”