Speaker Mike Johnson stands firm against conservatives threatening to oust him by backing $1.6 trillion spending deal with Democrats: More chaos in Congress as hardliners try to derail the deal to prevent a shutdown
Speaker Mike Johnson insisted he will stick to the deal he struck with Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, even after heated exchanges with Republican hardliners who threatened to try to unseat him.
“Our agreement remains,” Johnson told reporters on Friday after a floor vote. “We are taking our next steps together and we are working on a robust appropriations process,” Johnson told reporters after a floor vote on Friday.
Johnson drew the ire of conservatives when he struck a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that would fund the government at a level of $1.6 trillion in fiscal year 2024.
Congress now has one week to approve a spending deal before the government partially shuts down on January 19.
Speaker Mike Johnson insisted he will stick to the deal he struck with Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, even after heated exchanges with Republican hardliners who threatened to try to unseat him.
Republicans from the Hardline Freedom Caucus denounced the deal, saying it would cost too much and did not include border security.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a member of the Freedom Caucus who got into a heated exchange with Johnson on the House floor, suggested he was set up on the deal by Schumer.
“My only complaint for the speaker is that he has essentially fallen into a trap of playing against a deadline and playing this game on Chuck Schumer’s terms,” he told reporters, adding that his “confidence is waning ‘ in the speaker.
And while some floated the idea of firing Johnson with a motion to leave, the new chairman spent Thursday meeting with hardliners.
Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said there was “100% consensus in the room with everyone who met with the speaker that the deal is terrible for the country.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said filing a motion to vacate “could be a thing” if Johnson continues to make deals with Democrats or passes more funding to Ukraine.
“If those deals happen, then that is absolutely on the table.”
Some have now focused their fight on tying border security to the must-pass spending deal — and aren’t afraid to shut down the government to do so.
Imposing border regulations would increase the risk that the government will end up in this
Republicans from the Hardline Freedom Caucus denounced the deal, saying it would cost too much and did not include border security
Moderate Republicans, meanwhile, are frustrated with their right-wing colleagues and are urging Johnson to stick to the deal he struck.
“The regular mob, the ones who don’t like drama and dumpster fires, our concern is that you might see more mob rule,” said one Republican member.
“Their temperatures are rising quite high,” the member added. “They’re hoping Speaker Johnson has upset the apple cart too much. the reality is that when you make a deal, you make a deal. It’s going to be quite difficult to get out of there now.’
“A deal is a deal and it’s already been made and we have to stick to it,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told reporters. to DailyMail.com. “It’s already been announced.”
“It seems like when you make a deal, you make a deal,” added Rep. Lori Chavez-Deremer, R-Wash.
The situation was reminiscent of the spending saga led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who ultimately gave up working with hardline Republicans and set aside a negotiated continuation resolution (CR) and lost his job as a result.
“This is like a movie repeating itself,” said Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz. “The frustrating thing is that in the end, whatever the deal is, they will probably vote against it.”
Members have also been frustrated by the motion to remove the threats.
“I don’t yell when I’m in the operating room and I don’t have the right equipment, I make it work,” said Rep. Greg Murphy, R.N.C., a former surgeon.
Earlier this week, Johnson unveiled a $1.6 trillion spending plan to fund the government through fiscal year 2024, the same level agreed to in the debt limit deal between President Biden and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The deal includes $886.3 billion for defense spending and $772.7 billion for non-defense programs.
The deal actually spends $1.66 trillion, but a side deal of offsets and budget-cutting measures reduces that number by $69 trillion on the non-defense side to $1.59 trillion. It will also save Biden’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) $20 billion.
“The topline deal includes hard-won concessions to, as you know, cut even more billions from the IRS giveaway and COVID-era slush funds,” Johnson said. ‘It replaces the accounting tricks of the previous FRA (Fiscal Responsibility Act) agreement. And it brings Congress much closer to regular order, which is our big commitment here.”