House right flank revolts by sinking rule vote as Speaker Mike Johnson walks tightrope on government funding plan

Speaker Mike Johnson is finding himself once again walking a tightrope between political reality and what can satisfy his right flank, as conservative hardliners staged a rebellion on the House floor Wednesday afternoon.

More than a dozen House Republicans joined all Democrats in sinking a procedural rule vote on the House floor Wednesday afternoon, the second rule vote defeat in Johnson’s 11-week tenure, and coming hours after a heated private GOP conference meeting where Johnson sought to discuss a deal he struck with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on government funding.

It’s a challenge Johnson will face over and over again in the months ahead, but comes at a time when the speaker has even fewer votes than his predecessor and as Johnson has limited options on a spending deal that will need to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and be signed by a Democratic president.

“We’re in a divided government. Anyone who thinks we are going to get more out of this deal is lying and they’re kidding themselves,” Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, said. “The speaker did the best he could under the circumstances and frankly our hand was weakened by the eight nitwits who removed Speaker McCarthy.”

The rule – which would have governed debate on two resolutions of disapproval for Biden administration rules – failed by a vote of 203-216, with 13 GOP members joining Democrats in killing it. One of the 13 was Rep. Blake Moore of Utah, who changed his vote to “nay” on behalf of GOP leadership in order to make a request to bring the vote up again at a later date.

The dome of the U.S. Capitol is reflected in a window on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades

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