- Twelve Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against a rule that would have allowed their own party to advance legislation
- The House is once again at a standstill, with Republicans unable to pass bills unless conservatives lift their block on rules votes
Conservatives angry at Mike Johnson abandoned his spending plan and even disrupted regular sessions in the House as some floated the idea of ousting the new speaker.
Twelve Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against a rule that would have allowed their own party to advance legislation.
Passage of the rule would have allowed the House to advance legislation to disapprove of a Biden administration's policies on electric vehicle tax credits and labor regulations.
But now the House is once again at a standstill, with Republicans unable to pass any bills unless conservatives lift their block on rules votes. The majority party is traditionally responsible for passing rules to advance legislation, meaning Democrats won't help.
Conservatives angry at Mike Johnson abandoned his spending plan and even disrupted regular sessions in the House as some floated the idea of ousting the new speaker
A visibly upset Johnson crouched on the House floor with his party leader, Tom Emmer, and Reps. Chip Roy and Bob Good, two of the rabble-rousing Conservatives who helped push the rules vote.
The right-wing members who opposed the arrangement are angry about the deal's key spending figures and want it to include border security reform.
Roy, R-Texas, a prominent member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, first floated the idea of ousting Johnson from office with a resignation earlier this week.
“If they completely screw it up, we won't get political reforms… I don't know why we should keep him as speaker,” he said on Blaze TV. “I’ll leave it on the table.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, called his vote for Johnson for speaker “one of the worst votes I've ever cast … in the entire four terms I've served.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a prominent member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, first floated the idea of ousting Johnson from office with a resignation earlier this week
“Apparently the speaker has no intention of doing anything other than surrendering. We hope to change his mind,” Davidson said after an all-conference meeting Tuesday, frustrated with the spending plan.
Asked whether Johnson should be fired, he told reporters: “He should never have been hired.”
With just nine days left to avert a partial government shutdown on January 19, some hardliners have suggested shutting down the government to secure further concessions.
But with a razor-thin majority in the House and a Democratic-led Senate, it's unlikely that a bill conservative enough for their tastes can become law.
Earlier this week, Johnson unveiled a $1.6 trillion spending plan to fund the government in fiscal year 2024, the same amount agreed to in the debt limit agreement between President Biden and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The deal includes $886.3 billion for defense spending and $772.7 billion for non-defense programs.
The deal actually costs $1.658 trillion, but a “side deal” with offsets and fiscal austerity cuts that figure by $69 trillion on the non-defense side. It will also cut $20 billion from Biden's Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Republicans will need significant support from Democrats to pass the law while suspending the rules. The suspension of rules means hardliners will not be able to prevent a rules vote, but will require a two-thirds majority for the law to pass.
Other moderate Republicans scoffed at the idea of ousting the speaker over his spending plan.
“This is a ridiculous notion,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told reporters. “No one should mention the word ‘evict’.”
“It's a tough job even under the best of circumstances,” said Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., noting that Johnson's spending deal and the resulting backlash were reminiscent of a similar chain of events under McCarthy.
“We’re going back to where we were in June, before the House took a manic turn and kicked Kevin McCarthy out of his job.”