The GOP-led House screeched to a halt on Wednesday one day after lawmakers passed a bipartisan stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown.
In a 225-198 vote, 19 Republicans joined with Democrats to block debate on a long-term spending bill as well as a bill that sought to freeze billions of dollars unlocked as part of the Biden administration’s recent hostage deal with Iran.
Unable to proceed with consideration of the legislation, the chamber reportedly opted to leave early for Thanksgiving recess and is poised not to return to legislative business for at least two weeks.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), one of the Republicans who opposed the continuing resolution (CR) on Tuesday and then voted against advancing the 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science, (CJS) and Related Agencies Appropriations Act as well as the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act on Wednesday, called for a change in strategy.
“I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing — one — that I can go campaign on and say we did. One!” Roy exclaimed in a fiery speech on the House floor.
Chip Roy is fired up: “I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing that I can go campaign on and say we did. Come explain to me one meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done.”pic.twitter.com/x9rWhl4aaN
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) November 15, 2023
Less than a month into the role, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has sought to bring together a fractured GOP conference.
Johnson has faced some early setbacks as he tries to get the House to pass individual long-term spending bills, including the chamber repeatedly shelving a vote on a transportation funding measure in the face of some GOP resistance.
But the speaker did score a victory two weeks ago when 12 Democrats joined with Republicans to pass a White House-opposed plan to offset $14.3 billion in aid for Israel by slashing the same amount of funds meant for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
On Tuesday, the House approved a two-step CR, which aims to fund certain federal agencies through the middle of January while others would get money through early February, ahead of a possible shutdown at the end of the week. The Democrat-led Senate is expected to vote on the CR as early as later on Wednesday.
Johnson argued the CR was needed to “place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories” and “stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.”
That has not stopped House Republicans, including members of the conservative Freedom Caucus, from emphasizing their growing frustration.
“We’re done with the failure theater here in Congress — we’re not just going to pass bills that don’t address the problems that Americans face,” Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said in a post to X on Wednesday.