House resumes legislative business after conservatives end floor blockade

The House resumed legislative business Tuesday, advancing five bills after hard-line conservatives ended the blockade that paused floor action for nearly a week.

A rule to advance the bills passed 218-209 along party lines, kicking off debate and teeing up final votes on the measures, which pertain to gas stoves, regulatory reform and a pistol stabilizing brace.

It marked the first vote series in the House since last Tuesday, when 11 conservatives opposed a different rule to advance bills to the floor — a stunning revolt against GOP leadership that was enough to sink the rule and halt action in the chamber for days.

They were protesting the debt limit deal Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) struck with President Biden, which was enacted earlier this month to avoid an economy-rattling shutdown.

The impasse finally broke Monday night, when the group of Republican rebels said they would end their blockade of the floor — at least temporarily — as they continue conversations with McCarthy about ways to give the hard-liners more power and rein in deficit spending in future funding packages. They made the announcement after departing a meeting with the Speaker.

“Here’s what everyone understood: The power-sharing agreement that we entered into in January with Speaker McCarthy must be renegotiated,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said when emerging from McCarthy’s office. “He understood that. We understood that. And it has to be renegotiated in a way so that what happened on the debt limit vote would never happen again, where house conservatives would be left as the less desirable coalition partner than Democrats.”

On Tuesday, however, McCarthy appeared to disagree with Gaetz’s characterization, telling reporters, “I don’t know any power-sharing agreement that came out of that meeting from yesterday.”

“If somebody wants to have some agreement, it’s with the entire conference,” he added.

Another source of frustration among the conservative rebels was how GOP leadership handled a bill pertaining to pistol stabilizing braces.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), the sponsor of the pistol brace bill who supported the rule last week, had accused leadership of threatening to prevent the legislation from coming to the floor if he did not support a procedural vote for the debt limit bill, which he ultimately opposed. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), however, later told reporters that the bill did not yet have the votes to pass, but that he was working on shoring up support.

The bill would prevent the Biden administration from enforcing a rule that would reclassify pistols as short-barreled rifles if they have a stabilizing brace attached.

Tuesday’s rule vote advanced the measure to the floor for debate and a final vote — which Gaetz said was one reason why the conservatives relented in their revolt.

“One of the reasons we’re here is because the pistol brace legislation was taken hostage as an act of retribution and retaliation,” he told reporters after his meeting with McCarthy on Monday. “One of the very positive and productive features of our discussion is we’ve been able to liberate the pistol brace legislation.”

In addition to the Clyde legislation, Tuesday’s rule vote advanced two bills aimed at preventing bans of the appliances, and two others related to regulatory reform.

While the House resumed business Tuesday, Gaetz on Monday signaled that the conservatives could launch another revolt on the floor if McCarthy does not meet their requests.

“There’ll be more votes next week, and more rules, and if there’s not a renegotiated power-sharing agreement, then perhaps we’ll be back here next week,” Gaetz said. “That’s not our goal; our goal is to continue to build off the momentum of this discussion we’ve just had.”

Emily Brooks contributed.