'Not going to pass a thing': Republicans 'very angry' with rebellious GOP colleagues

U.S. Representatives Thomas Massie (R‑KY) and Ro Khanna (D‑CA) speak to the media after viewing unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files at the Department of Justice office building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 9, 2026. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

With Republicans having a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can only afford to lose one vote on any issue assuming all Democrats vote the same way. That's caused more than a few headaches for both Johnson and other House Republicans.

Axios reported Friday that the small handful of Republicans who have held up procedural rules packages (which precede votes on actual bills) are aggravating their GOP colleagues. This includes Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has a penchant for voting against most of his party on major Republican priorities. The Kentucky Republican recently remarked: "What's my incentive to vote for anything?"

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who himself has a tendency to vote against President Donald Trump on various issues, said a majority of Republicans are "very angry" over the small handful of GOP members holding out on key votes.

"It's like these guys never played team sports before," Bacon told Axios, adding that there should be a "day of reckoning" for intransigent Republicans. He also suggested they be stripped of their committee assignments.

"The rest of the conference is not happy about it," said Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) said. "A lot of us say, 'Well, if that's the way the game is played, why don't we play it that way?' But it's just not us. It's not who we are."

"If you do that with a one-vote majority, you're not going to pass a thing," Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) told Axios.

However, the Republican holdouts remain committed to exploiting the GOP's paper-thin majority to their advantage. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said he wasn't afraid of potential reprisal from Republican leadership, telling Axios: "Bring it on. I'll take it. I'll bust their a—— every dadgum time."

"They can't do that to me," Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) said of being potentially removed from her committees over her pattern of occasionally voting against the party on rules packages.

"If the rule is the only place that I can apply political pressure to get what my constituents sent me here to do, then that's what I'm going to do every single time," Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) told Axios.

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