Congress

On eve of House GOP leadership vote, Johnson shares opposition to punitive rules change

Published

2 years ago

November 13, 2024

On the eve of the House GOP’s leadership elections, Speaker Mike Johnson is making clear he does not back new internal GOP rules proposals that would take punitive measures against Republicans who prevent GOP bills from coming to the floor.

“I have made clear to members, as I’ve been having discussion with them, that I am not in favor of punitive measures and rules. I think that we are going to work together as a cohesive team. It’s a brand new time, a brand new day,” Johnson exclusively told Blue Light News. “I don’t think we will have a need for party discipline and I expect everybody to be working on singing from the same sheet of music.”

His remarks come as Johnson, according to two sources, had privately told various members that he didn’t support punitive measures. Blue Light News first reported over the weekend that centrists had filed an amendment to the rules to allow for members who voted against bringing GOP policies to the floor be removed from committees.

But some conservatives worry that even if Johnson doesn’t support it, a majority of his GOP conference will move to punish conservatives who block him from bringing bills to the floor, which became common practice last term. Republicans will meet on Thursday to vote on internal rules for the next Congress.

One GOP member, who was granted anonymity to speak frankly, added that leadership just “wants to just calm these waters and move forward,” but supporters of the rules proposal might be able to get “a majority to vote on Thursday … a certain way. We’ve got to address that.”

Another conservative put it this way: “If Johnson is going to try to change the rules and go backwards — I think that is where the motivation is coming from to mount an effort against him. … If he made a public commitment that he is not going to [punish members] or not going to change the motion to vacate, I think that it’ll be a slam dunk for him.”

Johnson’s remarks come as Republicans say he isn’t sweating a potential challenger from conservatives, despite some members saying they reserve the right to put one forward. Part of the reason hardliners are leaning toward mounting a challenge against Johnson is to attempt to push him rightwards on House rules.

Others are hoping that while they point the finger at Republicans being united while Democrats are in chaos, they will be able to avoid similar charges directed at them if a challenger emerges.

“Many of us would like to see Mike not having a challenge, but rather recognizing that he’s the only candidate,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), noting that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy faced a similar challenger from the right who only got about 30 votes. “Now the question is, why put up a candidate symbolically to be humiliated by getting a handful of votes.”

“There’s nobody you could put up that could propose anything more conservative,” he added.

The conservatives who want to see a challenger have so far failed to name who that member may be, but the group is expected to meet Tuesday night to discuss their plans.

“May or may not happen,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), a House Freedom Caucus member, said of a potential challenger. “Honestly, I don’t know that they will.”

Another member involved in the talks added that: “We’re reserving the right to have an alternative. I think we probably will.”

Johnson also said he expects Trump to endorse him Wednesday, before Republicans gather to vote by secret ballot about who will serve in their leadership lineup.

“He’s been talking very publicly everywhere about this, so I expect he’ll do it again tomorrow,” Johnson added.

Congress

Thune is ‘hopeful’ Mitch McConnell will return this week

Published

1 hour ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he hopes his predecessor as top Republican, Mitch McConnell, returns this week from a hospitalization.

Thune said he had not yet spoken directly with the 84-year-old Kentuckian but is getting “readouts from his staff.”

Asked about McConnell’s condition or if he knew if he would be back this week, Thune told reporters, “I’m hopeful that he’ll be back this week.”

A McConnell spokesperson said Sunday that he had been admitted to the hospital but did not provide details on his condition or why he was hospitalized — a break from recent prior instances where the seven-term senator was hospitalized.

A former McConnell staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity was told the senator was doing much better Monday without any further details on what put him in the hospital.

Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate to confirm Jay Clayton as soon as Thursday

Published

4 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate could vote as soon as Thursday on Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence — a lightning speed pace that will necessitate buy-in from all 100 senators.

Confirming Clayton could help shore up enough votes from Democrats to extend a government surveillance program that expired last Friday over opposition to Trump’s pick for acting director, Bill Pulte.

“He will come out of the committee Thursday, at least hopefully, and then if we get consent, we can move,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview Monday about Clayton, who Trump only nominated for the job late last week.

Democrats “ought to be happy with Clayton,” said Thune, adding that he’s a “good” and “solid” pick.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, floated Sunday to CBS News that Clayton could be confirmed this week if every senator cooperates.

Senate Intelligence will hold a hearing Wednesday on Clayton’s nomination. If every member of the panel agrees, he could then get a committee vote Thursday. Confirming Clayton on the Senate floor hours later would require getting agreement from every senator to speed up the process. Opposition from a single member will punt Clayton’s confirmation to next week.

Confirming Clayton Thursday would, crucially, limit — and potentially circumvent — Pulte from becoming acting director of national intelligence, which Trump has slated to take place Friday, June 19.

The president’s decision to put Pulte in charge after Tulsi Gabbard’s departure at the helm of the Office of National Intelligence sparked bipartisan pushback, with Democrats saying they will withhold support for extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act while Pulte is in the acting role. Congress allowed the key government spy authority lapse last Friday without a deal.

Trump threw another curveball into a FISA extension over the weekend when he posted on social media that he was against reauthorizing Section 702 unless a GOP elections bill is attached. That bill, known as the SAVE America Act, does not have the votes to get through Congress.

Thune threw cold water Monday on tying the two issues together.

“Yeah, he’s, as you know, passionate about getting that done and wants to use every opportunity to take a shot at it,” Thune said of Trump and his desire to enact the elections bill.

But, Thune said, “we can’t get FISA done” if the policies are linked.

Congress

Senate eyes vote on updated housing affordability legislation

Published

6 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning to put an updated version of a bipartisan housing affordability bill on the Senate floor for a vote this week, according to two people familiar with the bill dynamics and two Senate Democratic aides granted anonymity to discuss ongoing plans.

The version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that the Senate will vote on will include most of the House-passed language, including a provision restricting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The legislation would also add back Senate bills that were dropped from the House package that passed last month, the two people and the two aides said.

The Senate legislation comes after talks between Thune, Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and ranking member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The updated Senate package was also discussed with the House and the White House, the aides said.

Still, it’s unclear if House leadership and the White House have signed off on the legislation.

The Senate and House have gone back and forth for months on language for a housing affordability bill as lawmakers on both sides look for a win to tout during a midterm election season dominated by cost-of-living issues.

Both chambers overwhelmingly passed their own versions of the housing bill — the Senate 89-10 in March, and the House 396-13 in May. The White House supported the Senate-passed bill and then backed the House-passed bill after it retained most of the Senate’s language on reining in private equity and other large Wall Street investors in the housing market — a top priority for President Donald Trump.

The Senate’s updated legislation would remove two of the House’s community banking deregulation bills due to budget scoring concerns, said two of the people familiar: two bills that would modify the Federal Deposit Insurance Act around failed insured depository institutions. The Senate bill also added back a provision to authorize the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program for seven years, as opposed to a permanent reauthorization in the Senate’s March legislation.

The Senate additionally re-inserted several upper-chamber priorities, including the BUILD NOW Act, which would incentivize communities to build more housing through the Community Development Block Grant program; the Rental Assistance Demonstration bill, which would raise the cap on housing authorities to convert voucher-based assistance; the Moving to Work bill, which would aim to add a new cohort of MTW public housing agencies; and the VALID Act, which would require Federal Housing Administration mortgage disclosures to include cost comparison information for veterans.

The package retains core wins for the leaders of both the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees and their members and reflects input from all four leaders of those panels, one of the people familiar said.