House Republicans spent the week airing their frustrations with Speaker Mike Johnson, openly questioning whether he can truly hold together his already razor-thin majority. Now, with a major defense bill headed to the floor, he has to show he can actually govern — not just survive.
The annual Pentagon policy measure is scheduled for a vote just as Johnson’s leadership chops are being tested by must-pass legislation. GOP leaders have already had to delay releasing the bill’s text while they navigate a series of last-minute internal disputes, exposing how difficult it will be for Johnson to steer his conference heading into next year’s midterm elections.
Johnson is still reeling from a public clash with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a member of his own leadership team, over a surveillance-related provision she wanted attached to the massive defense package. She ultimately prevailed after accusing the speaker in public of lying and undercutting conservatives.
And that was just one fight. Other polarizing debates — from cryptocurrency regulation to in vitro fertilization — are still unresolved and threaten to fracture Republicans further, putting at risk a Pentagon bill that usually draws broad bipartisan support. The turmoil also threatens to complicate Johnson’s efforts to finalize a still-developing Republican health care proposal he has vowed to roll out by early next week.
“I think there’s a lot of members that are frustrated that we’re not doing the things that we said that we were going to do,” said Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) when asked about Johnson’s leadership. “His response to that would be, we only have a [three] vote majority, but I think if you govern conservatively, Republicans will show up and vote for it.”
Steube, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was “not happy” that Johnson initially declined to include Stefanik’s legislation that would require Congress to be notified about counterintelligence investigations involving candidates for federal office. That measure was part of annual intelligence authorization legislation which, he argued, contained “a lot of conservative reforms.” Johnson has said he was unaware of the provision and called Stefanik’s allegations “false.”
Top GOP leaders are now racing to resolve the remaining disputes and publish the text of the sweeping bill as soon as Saturday, though that could slip to Sunday, according to four people granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The negotiations are particularly delicate because the final bill must pass the Republican-controlled House and also clear a likely Senate filibuster — meaning Democrats will have to sign on.
“Getting an agreement right now between Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate’s not easy,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise said. “But we’re getting close, and we want to get it done.”
Johnson on Thursday tried to brush off concerns about Republican infighting, insisting his conference is still on schedule.
“Steady at the wheel, everybody,” he said. “It’s going to be fine.”
Still, the looming battle over the National Defense Authorization Act offers an early look at the turbulence Johnson is likely to face for the rest of the 119th Congress as he confronts contentious fights over health care, government funding and other high-stakes issues.
For example, Johnson could face a revolt from conservative hard-liners if the final defense bill omits a measure they strongly support that would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital currency. During a bitter intra-GOP clash in this summer’s chaotic “crypto week,” Johnson promised House Freedom Caucus members that the central bank digital currency ban would be included in the Pentagon package.
If that provision is left out, “it is a big deal,” said one House conservative, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the conference’s internal tensions.
The fate of that measure is now tied up in negotiations over another contentious issue — highlighting the pressure Johnson is facing from yet another powerful faction in his party: committee chairs.
Republican leaders are weighing whether to attach a scaled-down version of a Senate housing proposal to the NDAA. But Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) opposes that approach, preferring to advance a package of House housing bills through his committee later this month instead.
Johnson and Hill, both typically understated figures, had an intense discussion on the House floor Wednesday night as House and Senate GOP leaders — with input from the White House — haggled over how to incorporate housing affordability provisions into the defense bill.
“French is very logical and measured, but he’s very stern in what he believes and what he wants,” said a senior House Republican.
Johnson, a committed social conservative, is also under pressure from women and other members to expand coverage for in vitro fertilization and other fertility services for military families under the Pentagon’s Tricare health program. At the same time, he’s caught in the crossfire between big business and China hawks — two influential GOP camps — over whether to include new restrictions on U.S. investments in China. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), who chairs a select committee focused on China, said he’s optimistic that measure will be included but acknowledged pushback from the “financial community.”
The NDAA, he noted, “is a train that comes around once a year. We’re hoping to include it.”
