In an act of protest against the bipartisan deal announced Sunday to avert a government shutdown, a coalition of far-right Republicans prevented three unrelated bills from moving forward Wednesday—marking House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) first major pushback from the right flank that ousted his predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, (R-La.), at the Capitol on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Bill ... [+]
Thirteen Republicans, including House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Bob Good (Va.), Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) and Chip Roy (Texas), voted against a rule to move the legislation to the floor for debate, the first step before holding a formal vote, on Wednesday.
All Democrats also voted against the rule, for a final tally of 203-216.
The move was widely viewed as a revolt against the spending deal Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Sunday, which would cap government spending in fiscal year 2024 at $1.6 trillion, consistent with the agreement McCarthy struck with President Joe Biden last year to raise the federal debt ceiling.
The House Freedom Caucus promptly released a statement Sunday expressing opposition to the deal, calling it a “total failure.”
- That’s the number of seats Republicans currently hold in the House, after Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was expelled from Congress in December and McCarthy resigned at the end of the year, giving the GOP only a seven-seat majority.
Several GOP members have openly expressed their disappointment in Johnson over the spending plan, which some in the far-right have said falls short of the cuts they want to see. Roy did not rule out removing Johnson as speaker, telling CNN on Sunday “that’s not the road I prefer” when asked if Johnson could be booted. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) also told reporters on Wednesday Johnson “has no plans to do anything except surrender” after leaving a GOP conference meeting on the spending deal in a huff.
The spending plan announced Sunday would stave off a government shutdown ahead of the Jan. 19 deadline for when the current budget expires. The government is operating under a continuation of the budget for fiscal year 2023, which ended at the end of September, after lawmakers passed a short-term deal in November to extend the fiscal year 2023 budget for a second time to allow lawmakers to negotiate a full-year spending plan for fiscal year 2024. The debt ceiling deal, along with the short-term budget the House passed at the end of September, was among several factors that led to McCarthy’s historic ouster in October. Johnson, who describes himself as a “hardline conservative,” was elected to replace him several weeks later.