GOP frustrations with Speaker Johnson mount, Rep. Roy says motion to vacate not off table

Conservatives’ frustrations with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s performance have gained fuel with the newly unveiled top-line spending deal to fund the government, but the anger is unlikely to lead to his ousting. 

Lawmakers in the conservative House Freedom Caucus fumed over the deal, which honored the top-line $1.59 trillion spending number that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden negotiated, but also included a multibillion dollar side deal that jacked the spending total up to $1.65 trillion. 

House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Chip Roy, who has heavily criticized both deals, said on the “Steve Deace Show” on Tuesday that he was not planning to turn his back on a threat to use the motion to vacate against Mr. Johnson. It’s the same maneuver that led to Mr. McCarthy’s ouster last year. 

“I’m leaving it on the table,” said Mr. Roy, Texas Republican. “I’m not gonna say I’m gonna go file it tomorrow night. I’m not saying I’m not gonna file it tomorrow. I think the speaker needs to know that we’re angry about it.”

Mr. Johnson’s latest misstep in the eyes of his conference adds to a growing list of issues for Republicans. But a senior GOP aide told The Washington Times there are other options besides a motion to vacate for House Republicans to use to show their dissatisfaction with the speaker’s performance. 

“The motion to vacate threw the House into chaos and was a decision of last resort,” the aide said. “There are numerous strategies rank-and-file members could be more likely to use than that.”

Before lawmakers left for Christmas, House Republicans were upset with Mr. Johnson’s decision to not take a stance on two competing bills that dealt with renewing the government’s spying powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. 

He instead opted to put both bills on the floor before ultimately yanking the measures. 

Mr. Johnson has also struggled to unite his conference to pass the dozen spending bills needed to fund the government. The inability to get those bills passed forced the speaker to bring forth an unorthodox stopgap bill to prevent a government shutdown in November, which created two spending deadlines, a move that conservatives balked at. 

But much of that extended working period was wasted over negotiating a new top-line spending number, which in the end is roughly the same number that lawmakers were already working with. 

Further complicating matters for Mr. Johnson’s rocky relationship with his own conference is the possibility of Congress again passing a stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, and Senate Minority Whip John Thune, South Dakota Republican, both said that a short term stopgap bill would be necessary to avoid a government shutdown because of the short amount of time lawmakers have to negotiate and pass spending bills before the Jan. 19 deadline.  

Mr. McConnell said it would be up to Mr. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer to hammer out the length of a possible stopgap bill. 

“We have a top-line agreement. In the meantime, we need to prevent a shutdown,” Mr. McConnell said. “The simplest things take a week in the Senate. Frequently, the House doesn’t understand how long it takes to get something through the Senate.”