Conservative revolt stymies House GOP majority for second day in a row
Reese Gorman Cami Mondeaux
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Legislative business in the House remains stalled on Wednesday after members failed to meet for votes as Republican leadership struggles to squash a revolt within their own party stemming from the debt ceiling deal brokered between Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Joe Biden.
A group of 12 Republicans helped tank a bill that would restrict federal regulation of natural gas stoves, calling the move an act of defiance against House GOP leadership. McCarthy met with several members of the House Freedom Caucus throughout the day on Wednesday for discussions on how to come to an agreement, though it remains unclear whether a deal can be made to resume legislative business by the end of this week.
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Leadership has until Thursday to bring a motion to the floor to reconsider the rule, as well as to vote on the rule itself. Both must pass for lawmakers to bring the full bill to the floor for consideration. Despite conversations taking place with McCarthy to settle frustrations, members who initially voted against the rule say they have yet to be swayed.
Freedom Caucus members cited a number of reasons fueling their anger, with several accusing McCarthy of violating concessions he made in January during the speaker’s election.
“Clearly, there was some anger expressed about the debt ceiling deal, and even some perceive broken promises going back to the speaker’s race in January. So those things came up,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said. “There’s been a lot of conversations, and there’s gonna be more, so we’ve still got more work to do.”
The sense of distrust has even prompted some GOP holdouts to push party leaders to renegotiate the terms that secured McCarthy the speakership in January, a source familiar with HFC conversations told the Washington Examiner. A majority of that group consists of members who initially opposed McCarthy’s speakership bid before he agreed to a number of concessions.
However, a source close to leadership said members have not approached the speaker with a specific list of demands or grievances.
Much of the frustration has also stemmed from the lack of action on a pistol brace reform bill introduced by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), who accused GOP leadership last week of threatening to block the legislation if he didn’t back McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal. Scalise has denied these reports, leading to an animated conversation between the two on the House floor on Tuesday.
“Other things came up. We’re still working to bring the pistol brace bill to the floor, and there’s been vote issues with that bill for months,” Scalise said. “I’ve been working with congressman Clyde to get the pistol brace bill to the floor but also to make sure it passes.”
Scalise said he hopes to bring that bill to the floor next week for a vote.
McCarthy said he is confident he can squash the revolt and mend the relationship within the conference, but he acknowledged it wouldn’t be the last time cracks are likely to form.
“This won’t be the last. There’ll be other parts of the conference that will do the same thing. You only have a five-seat majority,” he said.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who voted “no” on Tuesday, told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday he was still a “no” on the rule. This is the second time this year McCarthy has had trouble passing a rule because of rebellion in his ranks. Historically, the majority party must carry the rule as the minority party almost always votes against it. But in the case of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the debt ceiling bill, Democrats helped Republicans and voted for that rule to help it pass. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case this time around.
When asked if Democrats will help Republicans out with this rule as well, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told the Washington Examiner it was a “one and done” vote with the debt ceiling rule.
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One member of the House Freedom Caucus who has recently become an ally of McCarthy, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), decried her Republican colleagues blocking the bill from coming to the floor.
“I think Republican voters and donors worked too hard to give us the majority to be doing stuff like this,” she told the Washington Examiner.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.