A group of hardline Republicans have notified House Speaker Mike Johnson not to count on their support for the legislation, Reuters informed.
Three weeks after the Louisiana lawmaker took office, 19 House Republicans, including 15 hardliners, voted to block debate on their party’s bill to fund federal Commerce, Justice and Science programmes for fiscal 2024, which began on October 1.
We want the message to be clear. We’re not going to pass bills that don’t address the problems that America faces.
House member Nick LaLota, one of four Republicans from swing districts in New York, opposed opening debate Wednesday over abortion restrictions and spending cuts to law enforcement as part of the underlying legislation.
Some hardliners who opposed Johnson on Wednesday also shut down the House in June to protest a 2024 spending agreement between President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was forced to adjourn the chamber several days early.
McCarthy was ousted by eight hardliners on October 3 after averting a government shutdown on October 1 through a temporary bill that angered the far right but was widely supported by Democrats.
Johnson, respected among the far right, angered hardliners with his short-term spending bill aimed at maintaining existing levels of government funding and programmes until early 2024.
The bill passed the House with the support of 209 Democrats and only 127 Republicans, which was a disturbing sign for the new speaker. Johnson also angered hardliners by suspending House rules to circumvent their hopes of blocking debate on the measure.
The House passed seven appropriations bills for 2024. However, Republicans were unable to agree on the remaining five spending bills.
Hardliners now want Johnson to persuade his Republican majority to a spending deal and then fight the Democratic-led Senate for spending cuts and policy changes that will protect programmes prioritised by Democrats.
We like him a lot. He’s a nice guy. But we’re going to make sure that he follows through on what he said he was going to do.
