- Twelve Republicans voted with all Democrats against a rule that would have allowed legislation put forth by their own party to move forward
- House is once again at a standstill, with Republicans unable to pass bills unless conservatives remove their blockade from rule votes
Conservatives furious with Mike Johnson tore into his spending plan and even held up regular business on the House floor, as some have floated the idea of ousting the new speaker.
Twelve Republicans voted with all Democrats against a rule that would have allowed legislation put forth by their own party to move forward.
Passing the rule would have allowed the House to advance legislation to disapprove of a Biden administration policies regarding electric vehicle tax credits and labor regulations.
But now the House is once again at a standstill, with Republicans unable to pass bills unless conservatives remove their blockade from rule votes. The party in the majority is traditionally responsible for passing rules to advance legislation, meaning Democrats will not get on board to help.
A visibly exasperated Johnson huddled on the House floor, with his Whip Tom Emmer and Reps. Chip Roy and Bob Good, two of the rabble-rousing conservatives who helped tank the rule vote.
Good addressed reporters off the House floor as lawmakers huddled behind closed doors.
“We’re making a statement that the deal — as has been announced, that doesn’t secure the border, and that doesn’t cut our spending and it’s going to be passed apparently under suspension of the rules with predominantly Democrat votes — is unacceptable,” Good said.
The right-wing members who tanked the rule are angry at the deal’s topline spending figure 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 pushing Johnson out with a motion to vacate earlier this week.
‘If they totally botch it, we get no policy reforms…I don’t know why we would keep him as Speaker,’ he said on Blaze TV. ‘I’m leaving it on the table.’
Meanwhile Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, called his vote for Johnson a speaker ‘one of the worst votes I’ve cast so far..in the entire four terms I’ve served.’
‘Apparently the speaker has no plans to do anything but surrender, we’re hoping to change his mind,’ Davidson said after an all-conference meeting on Tuesday, frustrated about the spending plan.
Asked if Johnson should be fired, he told reporters: ‘he never should have been hired.’
With just nine days to avert a partial government shutdown on January 19, some hardliners have suggested shutting down the government to get more concessions.
But with a razor-thin majority in the House and a Democratic-led Senate, it’s unlikely that a bill that is conservative enough for their liking could become law.