House Republicans Face Tough Questions as Spending Deal Goes Up in Flames”

House Republicans have gone back to square one after a deal reached on Thursday was deemed a failure just hours later.

 

The agreement, which was thrown together after a day of negotiations between the different ideological corners in the House Republican Conference, and Donald Trump’s Team, failed by 174 votes to 236 with only one voter present and 20 absentees.

 

Nine Republicans did not vote. An astounding 38 Republicans voted in opposition to the deal hastily assembled and endorsed by Trump.

 

Trump and JD Vance drove the final stake into the heart of the previous deal that was negotiated by House Speaker Mike Johnson with Democrats on Wednesday afternoon. Support for the deal had been eroding quickly before Trump took action to reframe the debate. He insisted that the deal should have included an increase in the debt limit to remove the difficult issue from his administration’s next Congress.

 

The new agreement removed more than a thousand pages containing pork and provisions that had nothing to do with keeping the government operating.

 

 

Only two Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while one voted and 11 did not.

 

Johnson introduced the bill under suspension of rules, which required two-thirds approval to pass.

 

The distance was not close.

 

The conference was full of Republicans who felt that the bill would fail, or they were protesting Johnson’s handling.

 

Republicans need to decide how they will proceed, not just in terms of funding the government, but also who will lead them during this battle and any future ones.

 

The Republican leadership has indicated that they will not attempt to pass this bill through the Rules Committee. This would allow it to be brought to the floor with only a simple majority. The bill was not able to receive enough Republican support for it to meet this lower threshold.

 

The leadership informed members that no votes will be held on Thursday.

 

Negotiations will continue but who will lead the negotiations after Trump’s Team had to step in just to bring a bill up for a vote?

 

Rarely do so many Republicans oppose a bill supported by Trump. Many sources claim that the 38 “nay” votes were a protest against Johnson’s leadership of the conference.

 

Thomas Massie, R-KY, announced earlier that he would vote against Johnson at the House-wide vote on Speaker for January 3, 2025. Rich McCormick, R-GA Rep. said that if today’s vote took place, he would also oppose Johnson.

 

Johnson would likely lose his job if he received just two public “nay” votes, but there is more opposition to come.

 

Johnson’s failure to pass Trump’s bill could also lead Trump to lose confidence in the Speakership. This would kill Johnson’s chances of retaining the gavel.

 

The deadline for passing a budget bill is midnight on Friday.

 

Republicans need to act quickly if they want to pass a funding measure and get on board before Trump becomes president.

 

There are many difficult questions to answer.