Several Republican members of the House of Representatives brought legislative business to a halt in the lower chamber on Wednesday afternoon, the latest rebellion launched by disgruntled conservatives, many of whom are in the House Freedom Caucus, against the House's GOP leadership regardless of who holds the gavel.
During a routine vote on the rule to debate legislation on the House floor, 13 House Republicans voted "nay" on the rule, defeating it 216-203.
203-216: House Republicans fail to pass a procedural rule after 13 of their members lash out over Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) tentative spending deal with Democrats.
— The Recount (@therecount) January 10, 2024
The failure of a rule was once extremely rare but has become common since the GOP took the majority last year. pic.twitter.com/ven3Uve2lL
The Republican members voting against the rule and joining in the protest were Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Bob Good (R-VA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Scott Perry (R-PA), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), and Chip Roy (R-TX). House GOP Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore (R-UT) also voted against the rule — but not in protest — changing his vote from "aye" at the last minute in a procedural move that allows him to bring the rule back to a vote at a later date.
House defeats rule for 3 bills after Freedom Caucus bands together to protest Johnson spending plan. Johnson just met with those mbrs about their grievances
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 10, 2024
That vote halted consideration of three non-spending related pieces of legislation, but was launched as a protest to the topline funding agreement for fiscal year 2024 reached by congressional leaders — namely House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — which was announced on Sunday.
The same type of legislative gamesmanship was used repeatedly by the Freedom Caucus against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in similar attempts to punish GOP leadership for agreements or decisions with which its members disagreed.
The House is essentially frozen again. The GOP leadership cannot bring up any bills that are not already noticed on the suspension calendar. and conservatives just killed leadership's ability to bring up any bills under a rule.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 10, 2024
Rep. Biggs explained that the latest show of force was because his compatriots "don’t have a great deal of opportunity to express our disapprobation," according to Politico.
Still on the same side of the aisle but on opposite sides of the funding deal, Speaker Johnson has sought to emphasize the conservative wins within the topline spending agreement he forged, including a rare cut to non-defense spending for FY2024.
The spending agreement CUTS $16 billion in Democrat spending priorities — the first nondefense spending cut in several years.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 9, 2024
This is a step in the right direction as House Republicans fight for conservative policy riders and reprioritizing funds. pic.twitter.com/kcrnTTQyAn
After a continuing resolution was passed in 2023 to avoid a government shutdown, there are two rapidly approaching deadlines before which funding bills must be passed if the government is to remain open — January 19 and February 2.