Johnson flails as Republicans demand consequences for conservative hijacking

Speaker Mike Johnson is scrambling to juggle the demands of long-warring factions of his conference. And there’s no way to appease both sides.

Conservative hardliners are actively trying to renegotiate the spending deal Johnson reached with congressional Democrats over the weekend, temporarily shutting down the floor until after the speaker met with them Thursday to hear their proposal for steeper cuts.

That ratcheted up the possibility of a government shutdown, but it also severely frustrated Republican centrists and appropriators, who are calling on Johnson to stick to the bipartisan deal and punish conservatives for holding the House floor hostage. That faction has grown increasingly exasperated with the right flank, openly criticizing them for repeatedly hijacking the spending negotiations. And it has left Johnson in an increasingly precarious position, with no loyal allies to back him up.

“There has to be consequences,” said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a top appropriator. “We’ve always understood that, if you did that in the past, there would be some consequences.”

Johnson huddled with House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) and roughly a dozen other members of his right flank on Thursday. Those hardliners emerged from the meeting optimistic that they’ll convince Johnson to walk away from the agreement he announced with other congressional leaders to fund the government for this fiscal year.

“It’s not going to be the current deal,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told reporters after leaving the meeting. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) added that “there’s going to be a new deal drawn up, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing.”

Johnson, leaving the meeting, said he had made no commitments to the conservatives, but that discussions are ongoing.

“We’re having thoughtful conversations about funding options and priorities. … While those conversations are going on, I’ve made no commitments, so if you hear otherwise it’s just simply not true,” Johnson said, adding that there would be additional meetings.

Republicans responsible for negotiating the details of a government funding package also warned against trying to change the agreement.

“I don’t know how you cut a deal and then go back to change the deal. The speaker already cut it,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a senior appropriator, predicting that the numbers wouldn’t change.

He added that he didn’t think any other number could unify the GOP.

Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), another appropriator, brushed off the hardline push to renegotiate the agreement, saying that “the top line is the top line.”

Changes would require a sign off from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, not to mention Senate leadership, raising the odds that it could blow up the agreement entirely.

“We have a top-line agreement. Everybody knows to get anything done, it has to be bipartisan. So we’re going to continue to work to pass a CR and avoid a shutdown,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said as conservatives pushed Johnson to change the deal. Schumer said Thursday he plans to introduce a vehicle for a short-term stopgap, known as a continuing resolution or a CR, in order to give appropriators more time to work out the details of the bipartisan spending agreement.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, warned that it would be “extremely hard” to negotiate a new agreement.

“I certainly hope that’s not true because it increases the chances of a government shutdown,” she added, as conservatives across the Capitol predicted they could get Johnson to renege on the deal.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) warned against letting the right flank “run roughshod over everybody,” and that he had heard from the speaker’s team that Johnson hadn’t changed anything.

“We are told he’s evaluating what the hardliners want — and will be talking to others of us next,” added one House Republican, speaking on condition of anonymity, of Johnson. “We think it is a bad idea on a number of levels.”

Republicans have repeatedly struggled to find consensus on a spending plan — leading former Speaker Kevin McCarthy to lean on Democrats to fund the government last fall. Some conservatives are itching for a fight over the border, even if it means a shutdown, believing they have political leverage in an election year. But many Republicans aren’t willing to risk shouldering the blame for a shutdown.

“I think that the majority of Republicans want to cut spending and want to secure the border and I think both of those are a winning fight with Senate Democrats,” Good said.

Other members of the right flank were careful not to assert that Johnson had sided with them in favor of scrapping the funding deal, which preserves the bipartisan funding levels that McCarthy and President Joe Biden agreed to in last year’s debt limit deal.

“We’re talking about a lot of things with the speaker right now. I think one thing that’s clear — there are many members of our conference who do not like this top-line spending agreement with Chuck Schumer,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said after the meeting with leadership.

If Republicans can agree to a new spending level, conservatives said they expected to need a short-term spending patch to work out the new deal. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told reporters as he left the meeting that the discussion was currently focused on whether a CR should extend past March, risking possible automatic cuts that are set to hit in April.

Conservatives characterized the meeting as a productive step toward getting House Republicans toward a consensus on an alternate plan. A partial shutdown would kick in on Jan. 20 if Congress does not act and any deal that would win over the right flank would almost certainly hit a wall in the Senate.

“There was 100% consensus in the room with everyone that was meeting with the speaker that the deal is terrible,” Good said, about a group that included conservatives and some members of leadership.

But asked if Johnson said the deal was terrible, Good added: “I didn’t say that.”

Johnson has publicly defended the deal, arguing that it was the best he could do given the GOP’s thin margins.

“This is actually a good deal,” Johnson told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt Wednesday. “It’s not the deal that you and I would construct and write from the beginning. But everybody has to remember we literally have, this month, the smallest majority in the history of the U.S. Congress. … So we have to deal in the realm of reality.”

Burgess Everett and Meredith Lee Hill contributed.