A trio of rebellious conservatives nearly derailed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to move foreign aid to a vote last week, but the speaker said he does not want to punish them.
GOP Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Thomas Massie of Kentucky orchestrated an uprising against Mr. Johnson when they used their positions on the House Rules Committee to vote against the speaker’s $95 billion foreign aid package.
Typically the rules panel acts as the arm of the speaker, voting in line with him to advance legislation to the floor for a vote.
Fellow House Republicans called for them to be booted from the committee. Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, took a more diplomatic stance.
The speaker told Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday that because of the GOP’s two-vote majority, any decision could cause massive reverberations to ripple through the party and further disrupt an already chaotic Republican conference.
“It’s a very delicate balance. If I start kicking people off committees right now, it’s likely that I cause more problems than I solve,” he said. “And so what I’m trying to do every day is manage this team.”
A large swath of the House Republican conference was angry with Mr. Johnson’s decision to push a foreign aid package that did not pair Ukraine aid with border security policy. Instead, Mr. Johnson offered a separate border bill that was doomed to defeat in the Democrat-run Senate.
The speaker ultimately won the day by passing the aid package, which included $61 billion for Ukraine, $23 billion for Israel and $9 billion for the Indo-Pacific. The legislation easily cruised through the Senate and was signed by President Biden on Wednesday.
But the disruptions from the conservatives on the Rules panel had Republicans calling for retaliation.
“When you break the rules, continuously and routinely, then I think the body should decide,” said Rep. Ryan Zinke, Montana Republican. “Quite frankly, I think the body should decide whether or not that person should be removed from committees.”
Mr. Norman viewed his position on the panel as bigger than himself and said that if the House GOP wanted him removed from the Rules Committee, they could go ahead.
“Look that’s not up to me, if they want to do that, kick me out,” Mr. Norman said. “If they’re that upset, do it, but I’ve enjoyed serving … this is the speaker’s decision.”
Mr. Johnson also has refused to change the rules governing the motion to vacate the chair, which currently allows any one lawmaker to force a vote to fire the speaker.
Mr. Massie and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona are threatening to use the motion to eject Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Roy said that while a majority of conservatives were frustrated with Mr. Johnson’s decisions, ousting him would not be the right move to make.
“The overwhelming sentiment among even conservatives angry at him is that we need to focus on beating Democrats in the fall and not have that kind of a debate right now heading into election season,” Mr. Roy said on Fox News.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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