Johnson faces GOP rebellion in shutdown talks

WASHINGTON —

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s rush to avoid a government shutdown tumbled Wednesday into a familiar chaos, as rank-and-file Republicans questioned his resolve in talks with Democrats.

The disarray, which culminated in a minirevolt on the House floor, comes as Johnson races to replenish funding for several federal agencies by Jan. 19, followed by a Feb. 2 deadline to keep other government operations open.

The GOP rebellion threatens Johnson’s ability not only to avoid a shutdown, but to negotiate a border compromise with President Joe Biden that would unlock $61 billion in stalled Ukraine aid. A nascent $70 billion business and child tax credit compromise is also at risk.

Given the impending deadlines, Johnson describes his efforts to strike a deal as “putting the pedal to the metal.”

Many of his Republican colleagues, however, want to hit the brakes on the new speaker’s $1.66 trillion spending deal reached on Sunday with Democratic leaders. That agreement was intended to be combined with any emerging deal on Ukraine aid and U.S. border-security changes conservatives are also demanding as a condition to providing more money for Kyiv.

“The House majority has to mean something,” Virginia Republican Representative Bob Good said on Wednesday, as he called the top-line deal a “failure for the American people.”

Good and other ultra-conservatives instead are pushing for a deep automatic cut to discretionary spending to be enacted on April 30, triggered by passing a fullyear stopgap bill.

Under this pressure, Johnson had a private telephone call Wednesday with Biden, during which, he said, he urged the president to use his executive authority to seal the border with Mexico, a key priority of his right flank.

But that did little to quell GOP disunity, raising questions about what exactly Johnson can promise to his own party. Hard-liners on Wednesday defeated Johnson on a routine procedural vote, during which the speaker had an animated, fingerpointing discussion on the House floor.

“He should have never been hired,” Representative Warren Davidson of Ohio griped after a complaintfilled closed-door meeting of House Republicans early Wednesday. “He has no plan except to surrender.”

Some of Johnson’s staunchest GOP critics revived talk of removing Johnson from the speakership, just as they ousted his predecessor, Kevin Mccarthy, in October. That occurred after they accused Mccarthy of capitulating to Democrats last fall on a short-term bill to keep government open.

Texas Republican Representative Chip

Roy said the party should remove Johnson if the coming spending bill doesn’t contain conservative policy “wins,” such as measures to restrict migration.

But others, like Good, prefer — at least for now — using tactics like blocking business on the House floor. That is precisely how their rebellion against Mccarthy began, before culminating in the historic vote to remove him from the speakership.

Johnson told reporters he’s not worried about removal, and attempted to appeal to his critics even as he tries to finalize a deal to avert a politically damaging and disruptive shutdown.