Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had to temporarily hold off on bringing the final four government funding bills up for a final passage until a lone Texas Republican could return to the Capitol.
Hunt, who makes a $175,000 a year representing the people of Texas’s 38th congressional district, has missed votes all week and most of the month while campaigning for the Republican nomination for Senate.
The Washington Examiner confirmed that Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) had to return Washington, D.C., from Texas, where he has been campaigning against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). He did so at the request of Johnson, who has been facing difficulty in passing contentious bills due to the GOP’s thin margins.
Hunt’s return to Capitol Hill comes after reporting that he was told by GOP leaders he could stay in Texas as early as Tuesday. A source familiar with Hunt told the Washington Examiner that “Speaker Johnson was the very first person to notify Rep. Hunt at 12:30 PM ET today that he was needed in DC.”
“After their phone call, Rep. Hunt immediately departed for the airport to head to DC,” the source said.
Since the House came back into session in the New Year, Hunt has missed 35 out of 38 votes. Johnson told reporters around noon that he had not spoken to Hunt this week after the procedural rule vote to advance the appropriations bills narrowly passed this morning.
“I expected him to be here, so it was a surprise to me,” Johnson said.
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Thirty minutes later, the speaker called Hunt to return to Washington. Votes were tentatively scheduled for 3:45 p.m., but that window broadened to 3:45 p.m. to 4:15 pm, per a whip notice — likely due to both debate on the floor and to give Hunt time to get to the Capitol.
Hunt’s absence in the House has become a campaign gift to Cornyn, who is fighting off two Republican challengers in the 2026 Senate primary. Attorney General Ken Paxton is also vying to be the next senator, making it one of the most competitive primaries for this fall’s election season.