Speaker Mike Johnson’s right flank ground the floor to a halt again on Wednesday, this time amid conservative fury over a spending deal he cut with Senate Democrats.
Thirteen House Republicans joined with Democrats to vote against starting debate on a trio of bills unrelated to the funding agreement, two of which are aimed at nixing Biden administration rules, a move that effectively freezes the floor. Additional votes on Wednesday were immediately canceled.
It's the latest example of how House conservatives, largely in the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, are trying to punish leadership — even if they aren’t willing to oust Johnson.
“We’re making a statement that the deal, as has been announced — that doesn’t secure the border and doesn’t cut out spending and is going to be passed apparently under suspension of the rules with predominantly Democrat votes — is unacceptable,” Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-Va.) told reporters.
Asked why conservatives pulled the move, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), another Freedom Caucus member, added that “we don’t have a great deal of opportunity to express our disapprobation.”
The strategy is a repeat of a playbook that members of the Freedom Caucus and their allies used several times last year, against both Johnson and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. While a significant blow to Johnson, it isn't necessarily surprising. POLITICO reported in November that members of the group now viewed blocking the bills from coming to the floor at all as fair game — the next day they blocked a spending bill.
Good and other Freedom Caucus members on Wednesday didn’t rule out tanking additional bills, so it's unclear how Johnson will restart the floor given his increasingly narrow majority. Good added that conservatives are hoping they can get Johnson to back away from the bipartisan spending deal, even as he's defended his strategy and warned he doesn't want a shutdown.
Congressional leadership, including Johnson, announced over the weekend that they had reached a deal on top-line spending numbers that largely matched the agreement struck by McCarthy and Biden last year. That sparked near immediate pushback from conservative Republicans, who wanted steeper spending cuts and are pessimistic that they’ll ultimately get policy wins on the border and other issues.
As the vote failed, Johnson left the floor and huddled in his office with Republicans on the Rules Committee, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who has flirted with trying to oust the speaker after the topline spending agreement.
"We'll see," Roy said as he was leaving Johnson's office about the potential that additional bills go down. "Right now, the point here is that we're not remotely satisfied."
Asked if the spending deal would still work in the wake of the rules drama, Johnson told Fox News’s Martha MacCallum that “it’s going to survive.”
“Chip and Ralph and others are frustrated it doesn’t go far enough. I’m frustrated too. But remember, we have a two-vote margin and only one chamber,” Johnson said. He added: “I don’t think I’m in any jeopardy of being vacated.”
