House GOP Whip Tom Emmer was caught off guard Tuesday when 11 of his members thwarted a typically mundane procedural vote to move forward on gas stove legislation — in their latest rebellion against leadership.
“That was spontaneous,” Emmer, R-Minn., told DailyMail.com of the rebel group’s latest plan.
The kitchen appliance once again became entangled in Central American politics when members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus decided to fire Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s plans to move forward with four bills to prevent the Biden administration from regulating gas stoves.
Eleven of them voted ‘no’ to the rule, making a procedural vote fail in this way for the first time in two decades. The procedural vote failed by 206 to 220, with all Democrats against.
The House will vote on the rule again on Wednesday. Asked if it would go ahead this time, Emmer said, “It needs some discussion.”
The House was originally scheduled to vote on the rule at 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, but that vote was postponed and it is now unclear when it will be brought before the full House again.
“McCarthy lied, the line died,” wrote Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., on Twitter after Tuesday’s vote.
“That was spontaneous,” Emmer, R-Minn., told DailyMail.com of the 11 “no” votes on the rule to advance gas stove legislation
“House Leadership couldn’t hold the line,” Gaetz tweeted Wednesday ahead of the second rule vote. “Now we keep the word.”
Members of the Freedom Caucus, along with conservative ally Matt Gaetz, voiced grievances with Republican leaders — most notably the claim that Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga. agreement.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise denied holding Clyde’s account hostage over his opposition to the debt limit agreement.
10 members of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) and their conservative ally Matt Gaetz voted against prepaying gas stove bills on Tuesday to voice their grievances over the debt deal
“The problem is counting the votes,” Scalise insisted. “There are some members that aren’t here yet, and we’re working to get those members there.”
Emmer, a longtime hockey coach with a knack for sports analogies, said he was unaware of any kind of threat if there was one, and had long predicted growing pains within the new Republican majority.
“This team has been extremely successful and has done things in the first five months that people never thought possible,” he said. “But I said for the past five months… don’t expect us to always be successful. There will be a day when we will face adversity, there will be a day when we disagree. That’s what teams do. We are going through that period now.’
“We come out the other side even stronger than we came in.”
Tuesday’s dissent made for dramatic scenes on the House floor, with Emmer and Scalise huddled in the back with conservative opponents trying to convince them to change their vote.
Following the floor protest, Clyde tweeted that he had received a commitment from leadership that his bill to repeal a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) rule on gun braces would receive a floor vote next Tuesday.
Still, the rioters said they believe McCarthy violated “fundamental commitments” that ultimately earned McCarthy the gavel during the 15-ballot race.
Such an agreement has never been formally written down – so there is no way of knowing if the leadership will go back on an agreement they made with conservatives.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., complained that leadership would not allow the debt ceiling agreement to be tabled under open rules — meaning full members were not allowed to put amendments to a vote. Some members said McCarthy promised them he would bring all legislation under open rule.
Others were angry that more Democrats voted for the final package than Republicans, 171 to 149. However, McCarthy praised that two-thirds of the Republican conference supported the bill.
The gas stove’s opponents had already objected to the debt deal, which suspended the debt limit until January 2025 in exchange for spending cuts, saying they weren’t conservative enough.
‘I think that the speaker has fulfilled the agreements made,’ says Emmer. ‘I can’t speak for the members, that’s their perception. That’s their reality.’
Some in the Freedom Caucus have already floated the idea of filing a motion to vacate — allowing one member to cast a ballot where only a simple majority can oust McCarthy from the speakership.
Emmer dismissed the possibility of such a play.
“I don’t think that’s even reasonable,” he said. “I know it’s interesting for everyone to speculate.”
McCarthy has the support. We’re going to work it out now, whatever the disagreement is. And we will come out the other side an even better team than we were when we started this.’
The group of lawmakers said they would oppose any legislation until they got a written agreement from McCarthy promising to go back to the January agreement.
Opposition within the slim majority could be particularly problematic given upcoming House priorities — the leadership wants to pass 12 appropriations bills to plan spending, they must reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), pass a new five-year farm bill, and the Federal Reauthorize Aviation Administration (FAA).
“I’m going to try to work with them as much as I can,” Emmer said of the 11 Republican members if they continue to get in the way of GOP priorities.
The whip said “emotions have run high” as the House has been in quick succession pushing party-line bills that have fallen in the Senate.
“You have a senate that doesn’t want to do anything. I mean, Chuck Schumer seems to be getting in the way of any progress. And I think our members feel it because they are unable to provide the solutions that would help people.”