House Republicans caution Speaker Johnson against potential "side deals" with rebels seeking his ouster; Johnson holds meetings with Reps. Greene and Massie, who have made demands regarding foreign aid and government funding.
House Speaker Mike Johnson faces growing internal pressure from GOP rebels threatening to oust him from his position. The rebels, led by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie, have made several demands of Johnson, including assurances that the House will not vote on any more Ukraine aid and a pledge to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation of former President Trump.
Johnson has held multiple closed-door meetings with Greene and Massie to discuss their demands. However, House Republicans are warning Johnson against making any potential "side deals" with the rebels, fearing that such concessions could undermine the conference's unity.
Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern expressed concerns that making special arrangements with individual members could lead to a slippery slope of demands from others within the party. "What I would have a problem with is when you start making special deals, side deals, and hidden deals," Hern said. "Then people [say]… 'What about my deal?'"
Hern pointed to similar issues with ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who held closed-door negotiations with members of the House Freedom Caucus. "It's hard to equate him and Speaker McCarthy, they're just entirely different and they had a different approach to most of everything," one GOP lawmaker said, referring to Johnson.
Despite the concerns, some GOP members believe the concessions being requested are non-controversial. However, they caution against setting a precedent of making separate arrangements with individual members. "My management style has always been – you never, ever, ever grease a squeaky wheel," said Rep. Carlos Gimenez. "Because if you do, you’re going to end up with more squeaky wheels."
According to sources, Greene and Massie are also demanding that Johnson vow to block any legislation from getting a House-wide vote unless it has the support of a majority of the House GOP, a provision known as the Hastert rule. Greene confirmed these requests upon arriving at Johnson's office for their second meeting. "These are not unreasonable requests. These are the right things to do. These are the right things to do for our conference," Greene told reporters.
Rep. Dan Meuser dismissed their demands as "nonsense," stating that their influence should be limited to voting. "They get to weigh in, they get a vote. That’s what they get. They don’t get to form our total policy," Meuser said.
While some GOP members acknowledge concerns about possible side deals, they recognize the need for flexibility given the party's slim majority. "I think there's always concerns about that, that there's specific members that are getting more attention than others from the speaker himself," said one GOP lawmaker. "But, you know, overall, I think it's kind of like, we're just trying to figure out how to move forward on some of this stuff."
Johnson has denied that he is negotiating with Greene and Massie, maintaining that he is engaging in discussions with all members of the conference. "It's not a negotiation, OK? This is how I have operated as speaker… I take Marjorie's ideas and Thomas' and everybody else's equally, and we assess them on their own value and where we can make improvements and changes and all of that. And that's what this is," Johnson said.
The internal GOP rebellion poses a significant challenge to Johnson's leadership and could potentially destabilize the party's agenda in the 118th Congress. As the Speaker navigates these demands and attempts to maintain the conference's unity, the outcome of this standoff remains uncertain.
