Congress
House GOP hard-liners continue to threaten floor blockade ahead of crucial vote
Hours ahead of a crucial floor vote, hard-right House Republicans threatened to continue blocking legislative business Tuesday in a bid to force action on a stalled GOP elections bill backed by President Donald Trump.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and allied hard-liners derailed last week’s planned House business, and they said Tuesday morning that Speaker Mike Johnson’s efforts to meet their demands to force Senate passage of the SAVE America Act have fallen short.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said a crucial procedural measure scheduled for an early-afternoon vote “is going to have problems the way it is currently structured.” Harris argued he needs “more than a commitment” from Johnson to hold a vote on border security issues, which the speaker promised hard-liners several weeks ago as part of a deal to pass a separate measure.
“I don’t know if the leadership is going to change it in order to give it a better chance of passage, but we’ll see,” Harris said.
GOP leaders want the House to vote this week on the annual defense policy bill, fiscal 2027 funding for the State Department and other agencies, as well other measures. Johnson moved Monday to attach the House-passed SAVE America Act to the Pentagon bill, as Luna and her allies had demanded. But after the House Rules Committee acted on the plan, Luna said the plan was insufficient.
In a closed-door meeting of House Republicans Tuesday, Johnson urged his members to fall in line on the procedural vote. But very few of the biggest potential holdouts were in the room, according to four people in the room who were granted anonymity to describe the private meeting.
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) sounded off on the “stupid” blockade threat in an interview Tuesday morning.
“The idea you’re going to make the Senate do something by doing nothing in the House is ridiculous,” Cole said. “You make the Senate move by putting pressure on them by passing [bills], not by having a self-inflicted shutdown.”
Cole added of Luna: “If she wants to be a senator, she should run for the Senate,” he said. “Trying to use the House in that way just makes us ineffective — as ineffective as they are.”
Johnson told reporters separately he doesn’t plan to further modify the procedural measure to placate holdouts.
“There’s always lingering issues, and we’re going to work through them today,” he said.
In a small boost to Johnson, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who previously advocated to shut down the House floor unless the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, said in an interview Tuesday that he plans to support the procedural vote.
“Whether it’ll pass or not, I’m not sure,” he said.
Sen. Thom Tillis renewed his call for President Donald Trump to fire Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, following the resignation earlier this week of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
“I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country,” the outgoing two-term North Carolina Republican wrote on X. “He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force.”
Driscoll, whose long-rumored resignation became official this week, had clashed with Hegseth over the Defense secretary’s reluctance to modernize the Army and his firings of dozens of senior officers. Hegseth has focused more on cultural issues — including grooming and fitness standards — within the department.
“If we had a @SecWar who maintained the same priorities and forward-thinking, he would be fighting to retain talented leaders like Dan and the many flag officers he has forced into retirement,” Tillis charged. “Instead, he is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks.”
The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment on Tillis’ post.
Tillis, who is not running for reelection in November, has openly clashed with Hegseth since Trump tapped the former Fox News host to lead the Pentagon in 2024.
In May, Tillis told POLITICO he believed Hegseth had misinformed Trump on the dynamics of a war in Iran. Firing Hegseth, he said, was on “a Christmas wish list.” In a book set to be released next month, Tillis branded Hegseth — along with a handful of other White House officials — as “MAGATS” and accused them of “not looking around corners and taking care of this president.”
It hasn’t earned him friends in the administration.
“The media said how brave he was to take me on, but he wasn’t brave, he was just the opposite – HE WAS A QUITTER!” Trump wrote on Truth Social in May. “Now he can have all the fun he wants for a few months, with some of his RINO friends, screwing the Republican Party. In the end it will only get bigger, and better, and stronger, than ever before!”
Despite a stern message from party leaders, a panel of House Democrats did not settle on any particular consequences for the pair of lawmakers who crossed party lines Tuesday to advance an otherwise troubled slate of Republican-led bills.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and fellow leaders said the matter would be reviewed by the Democratic Committee on Caucus Rules, which convened Wednesday morning for a prescheduled listening session.
Attendees discussed possible changes to the rules that govern House Democrats’ conduct for next term. Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), the panel’s chair, suggested to reporters that discussion included what should happen if members vote with Republicans on procedural measures like the one Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) supported Tuesday.
“There’s been a variety of suggestions to change our rules, not just regarding the last couple days, but several suggestions that have been percolating for some time,” Levin said, while adding that any changes would happen only “in the next couple of months.”
The lack of urgency stands in contrast to the stern statement Jeffries and fellow leaders made Tuesday about the rogue members’ “breach of trust” — not to mention the rage some rank-and-file House Democrats are expressing. Some have floated removing the pair from their committees — particularly Gluesenkamp Perez’ seat on the exclusive Appropriations panel.
“Somebody else who is willing to think about other people needs to be on that seat, that exclusive committee,” said one House Democrat granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Jeffries, who was not present at the meeting, also seemed to have a speedier timeline for responding to Gluesenkamp Perez and Golden. He told reporters after the meeting wrapped that he was waiting on feedback from Levin and that the caucus would have conversations “amongst the family about the best way to move forward.”
Asked about his timeline for action against the pair, Jeffries said, “Sooner rather than later.”
Speaker Mike Johnson said he has no plans to campaign with embattled Rep. Max Miller — or visit his home state of Ohio at all — before the midterms.
“I have no plans to go to Ohio between now and the election,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “I’ve said everything I can say about the situation. It’s up to the people in his district.”
Miller is running in what had been considered a safe red district before allegations of abuse from his ex-wife Emily Moreno, the daughter of GOP Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, exploded into public view in recent weeks. Ohio’s two GOP senators have called on Miller to resign.
Miller has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to continue his reelection campaign. A spokesperson for Miller declined to comment.
Johnson said Monday that he supports Miller’s reelection bid and called him a “great member.” The House Ethics Committee is investigating the allegations, which include physical assaults on his wife and daughter.
“He’s running a good campaign,” Johnson said Wednesday. “He has a nasty divorce. He’s, of course, vehemently denied the claims made. And as I’ve said many times, we allow due process to play out.”
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