Hard-liners so far have had enough leverage to prevent a long-term budget agreement from being struck, partly because any one of them could launch a vote to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — sworn into power less than five months ago — if they’re unhappy with the outcome.
Yet Johnson has dismissed that threat, joining the other top congressional leaders this week in endorsing a bipartisan deal to fund the various agencies at higher levels through September. And despite an outcry from the right, no one is sticking a neck out to challenge the Speaker’s authority by floating the motion to vacate that had toppled his predecessor.
It suggests the severity of the right’s diminished powers over this year’s appropriations process. And that reality seems to be hitting home.
“Honestly, I think we’re gonna continue to … be loud, but at the end of the day, I think you’re gonna continue to see the same with this Congress,” said Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
Pressed on what points of leverage remain for conservatives, Crane responded: “I don’t think there’s a whole lot right now, to be honest with you.”
That resignation marks something of a shift for a conservative group that’s flexed its muscles throughout Congress, leaning on allies on the House Rules Committee to shape legislation to their liking and taking the highly unusual step of using procedural votes to block bills on the House floor to gain further leverage across numerous policy battles.
Those dynamics have forced Johnson to bring consequential, must-pass bills to the floor under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process that requires two-thirds support for passage but eliminates the need for a procedural vote.
The maneuver, which Johnson has utilized numerous times in his nascent Speakership — including for this week’s spending vote — effectively precludes the hard-liners from blocking the process, leaving them powerless as bipartisan bills sail through.
That’s likely the process that will accompany the coming votes on 2024 funding. And many conservatives aren’t taking it well.
“Watching House Republicans is like watching a football team whose best play is the punt and the block,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said on the House floor after Johnson endorsed the budget deal. “Last I checked, the Republicans actually have a majority in the House but you wouldn’t know it if you looked at our checkbook.”
The Hill’s Mychael Schnell and Mike Lillis have more here.
