Furious House Republicans reach a 'boiling point' over MIA members

U.S. President Donald Trump winks at House Republican Whip Tom Emmer, from Minnesota, while being applauded after at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/File Photo

House Republicans are growing increasingly furious as fellow lawmakers miss work during the campaign season.

In a NOTUS report on Thursday, Paul Kane wrote that things have reached "a boiling point" because so many Republican lawmakers are missing in action. The result has been that the narrow Republican majority is in danger and at times there are more Democrats than GOP lawmakers.

"On Tuesday, a few hours before a vote on a critical border security bill, Republicans expressed anger over how their ability to pass legislation would be made more difficult by the absence of GOP lawmakers who were back home campaigning," NOTUS reported.

There's also the matter of Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who has been missing votes on Capitol Hill for 98 days as of Thursday. Kean has missed more than 100 votes. He has an illness he refuses to talk about, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has promised that the problem isn't anything "untoward." For two months, he's been saying he will return "soon."

“Look, I had a pretty darn competitive primary. During the thick of it, it was competitive, and I was missing valuable campaign time back home. But I did my job,” said a miffed Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), speaking to his colleagues. He's running for the U.S. Senate to replace retiring Mitch McConnell.

In a late Tuesday vote, the bill nearly failed with a 213-to-213 vote until Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) changed his vote.

Meanwhile, Republican Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, each from South Carolina, were running for governor. They stayed in the state to watch as numbers came in, showing them both losing.

Rep. Barr complained about the absences, calling them inexcusable, but didn't name Mace and Norman.

Johnson controls the votes and the calendar and could have held the vote until Wednesday to ensure it passed without forcing members to cast difficult votes.

In private, NOTUS said that GOP leadership is telling members that they need to focus more on doing their job rather than trying to get a new one. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) "initially denied" that he made such a point to the members, the report said.

“Everybody should be here,” Emmer said, according to the report.

After the Nov. 2024 elections, Republicans were to hold a 220 -215 majority over Democrats. But recently, that number has been shrinking. It now stands at 217, with "independent" Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calf.) after Kiley changed parties during California's redistricting push. He's still caucusing with Republicans, however.

NOTUS looked through the congressional record, showing that there were at least four times when roll call votes showed more Democrats were present than Republicans. There were three instances in which there was a tie vote, counting Kiley as a member who caucuses with the GOP.

NOTUS said that "by and large, Democrats have had a higher percentage of members attending and voting each week, with most of their absences coming from lawmakers who are sick or have pressing family matters."

“I don’t miss votes,” said Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.). She's only missed one vote, and it was while she was present but off the floor in a conversation, and the roll call vote was closed in two minutes.

Several Texas Republicans have missed votes during their primary elections.

Johnson's office is working with Emmer to chart when it can and can't hold votes.

In a closed-door meeting with Republicans, Rep. Barr told them to rearrange their schedules.

“That’s what I expect of my colleagues as well. You know, I understand they have primaries, but you were elected for this job. My first obligation always has been as the congressman for the Sixth District [of Kentucky], not as a candidate for Senate,” he said.

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