Johnson warned against making 'side deals' with GOP rebels: Don't 'grease a squeaky wheel'

House Republicans are warning Speaker Johnson, R-La., against making any potential "side deals" with the GOP rebels threatening to oust him.

Johnson is holding his second meeting in as many days on Tuesday afternoon with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. They made several demands of Johnson on foreign aid and government funding in a two-hour closed-door meeting on Monday.

It's not immediately clear if they will back off their threats if their requests are fulfilled, but several House Republicans told Fox News Digital they hope Johnson stands firm against their demands unless he decides something is in the best interest of his conference.

"I think his job as speaker is to listen a lot, and then he has to ultimately make a decision, so I don't have a problem with him listening," Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., said on Tuesday morning. "What I would have a problem with – and we had this problem with Speaker McCarthy – is when you start making special deals, side deals and hidden deals…And then people [say]…'What about my deal?'"

ANTI-MCCARTHY GOP REBELS DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM PUSH TO OUST SPEAKER JOHNSON

Hern was referring to the closed-door conversations ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., held with members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and their allies, at times shifting House GOP policy after hours behind closed-doors with those members. That includes side deals he made in January 2023 to win the speaker's gavel after a record 15 rounds of voting.

"It's hard to equate him and Speaker McCarthy, they're just entirely different and they had a different approach to most of everything," one GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital.

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