Posted on 01/09/2024 5:59:25 PM PST by Red Badger
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) could be on the verge of facing a no-confidence vote through the same process that removed his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), as speaker last year.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said on Tuesday that he would not rule out using the “motion to vacate” mechanism against Johnson amid objections to a government spending framework released by congressional leaders over the weekend and a warning about an impending border security deal.
“I’m leaving it on the table. I’m not gonna say I’m gonna go file it tomorrow night. I’m not saying I’m not gonna file it tomorrow. I think the speaker needs to know that we’re angry about it,” Roy told BlazeTV host Steve Deace.
Concessions made during McCarthy’s rise to the speakership early last year restored the ability of a single member to trigger the “motion to vacate” process that would lead to a no-confidence vote. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) did just that in early October after the House passed a stop-gap spending measure to prevent a government shutdown. He and seven other Republicans joined with Democrats to remove McCarthy from the speakership. Since then, Johnson got elected speaker and McCathy has left Congress.
Roy said he publicly voiced opposition to the effort to rip the speaker’s gavel from McCarthy. He noted some frustrations with what transpired under the California Republican’s leadership, but also acknowledged progress with spending caps getting implemented and conservatives achieving “some success” as lawmakers began advancing individual spending bills as opposed to omnibus legislation that would combine them.
While Johnson touted a “topline” $1.59 trillion figure for the fiscal 2024 appropriations process along with “concessions” as part of an agreement with congressional Democrats, Roy suggested it ignores options devised under McCarthy that offered more financial restraints and contains “budget gimmicks” that increase spending above the $1.66 trillion fiscal 2023 omnibus spending bill negotiated under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Roy told Deace he will reserve judgment until he sees what “policy riders” might come out of negotiations. But he isn’t getting his hopes up after a defense policy bill that included a FISA section 702 surveillance extension and “basically got rid of all of our DEI and CRT stuff,” as well as another stopgap spending measure.
Democrats warned House Republicans not to include “poison pill policy changes” in any of the fiscal 2024 spending bills or risk losing their support. President Joe Biden also released a statement that said “congressional Republicans must do their job, stop threatening to shut down the government, and fulfill their basic responsibility to fund critical domestic and national security priorities.”
The prospect of another government shutdown looms as a two-step continuing resolution (CR) passed in November funds certain federal agencies through January 19 while others would get money through February 2. Separately, lawmakers in the Senate are holding bipartisan talks on a deal to tie border security reforms to supplemental national funds for U.S. allies such as Ukraine and Israel.
“If they totally botch it — we get no policy reforms and we’re spending $1.66 trillion, I don’t know why we would keep him as speaker,” Roy said, adding later that he would fight “$60 billion on Ukraine and bull crap border security” reforms after the GOP-led House passed its own border security bill last year that the Democrat-led Senate refuses to consider.
JUST SAY NO to All Spending until the border is CLOSED and Public Employee’s all across America are having their Paychecks attached to pay for the current ones in the country.
It’s up to the Senate. The House has already made their move with H.R.2.
Just plain stupid...to get rid of Johnson. Keep going and you’re going to wind up with a Dem as leader in the House. You people think one person can do it his way...in house with over 400 residents.
34 trillion in the hole is enough the spending has to stop and Ukraine is money laundering for Biden to be sure but also for Republicans who are in bed with Big Military (Defense Contractors).
The elected officials and the money they take from defense companies like Boeing=the windows of civilian airliners blowing out mid-air and Lord knows what else for aircraft used by those who serve our country.
He’s acting like a Democrat.
The Republicans never run out of weasels.
“You people think one person can do it his way...in house with over 400 residents”
Nancy Pelosi did.
No he’s not. Not at all. Go after Schumer..
Nancy owes all her success to Schumer. And if you have the numbers on your side...well, that makes a difference, too.
Not one state, or political party, or faction, or issue, but the entirety of The United States of America.
SECURE THE FRIKKIN' BORDER.
THEN you can consider other matters.
I support the vast majority of the Freedom Caucus policy positions.
Excepting this one.
The Freedom Caucus is blackmailing the majority of the Republican caucus to compel their positions.
That’s a broken model that damages the party and the country.
This is a good example on why Trump will win in the fall and the GOPe house will not get re-elected as a majority, just too many people that have had enough. The ‘red wave’ that did not appear last year was just a precursor for what is coming.
The Democrats are the Borg.
Republicans can rarely if ever agree on anything. Getting a majority of Republicans on the same page is almost as futile as herding cats. Nearly impossible.
Democrats have personal agendas. Democrats always, if reluctantly, put their disagreements aside for the party’s ultimate goal of changing the USA into a one-party rule democrat totalitarian gov’t.
The Republicans have no such unifying goal which drives them to capitulate to the overlying objective.
SHUT IT DOWN, I am on SS and need it to pay bills and eat. I’ll live on survival food for however long it takes. SHUT THE GOVT DOWN, hard reset. Cut off all payments to Congressman, Senators, and government workers. It should take about 6 weeks and they will quit en masse
Meanwhile the Republicans seem poised to lose their majority in the House and the Senate.
Inflation keeps mounting as a result of unrestricted government spending. I do not see any solutions. Just more lies and deceptions.
Throw his sorry ass out.
I share your frustration...
If not Johnson...Then who? Somebody has to do the job...
Give me a name...Not Congressman Gaetz...I do not think that he wants the job...
Much harder with such a narrow majority. Even though the worst of the reliably rotten RINOs were primaried away in ‘22, real republicans are individualists enough, with differing versions of purity, that their reaching 100% agreement is rare. And with the majority so small the exceptions plus the group-think Democrats are often a majority. Now, had we won the expected ‘Red Wave’ in ‘22 rather than a red ripple, enough of the republicans might have come together on many issues to leave a majority. Problem is harder in the Senate when there need to be enough republicans to make a 60% supermajority to move many things forward.
Roy’s comments seem very sensible and reasonable.
I really can’t begin to understand the comments from freepers earlier in this threat harshly criticizing him.
It’s just a warning shot, a reasonable questioning about why we are getting so little and actually going backwards in some respects from an earlier deal that got Kevin booted.
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