Must-pass legislation in limbo as conservatives fume over House speaker’s flip-flop

Republican lawmakers are fuming at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) over the national defense reauthorization bill. Axios reported late Tuesday that the defense funding measure is now at risk after Johnson allegedly reneged on promises to conservatives.

Congress separates its budget so that military funding is handled apart from the regular government budget. Members of the House Freedom Caucus were assured that if they supported the GENIUS Act — a bill that created a regulatory framework for digital currency stablecoins — their priorities would be addressed in the defense legislation.

Johnson even claimed that Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) was on board.

“The Anti-CBDC bill was in the House-passed NDAA, but now it’s not in the bill that will come to the House floor Wednesday,” Axios reported. “Leadership needs to fix this bill IMMEDIATELY,” Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) posted on X.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Axios he will grant “some amount of grace” on this week’s rule vote but will not vote for final passage. “[I]t is frustrating, you know, but that does not all fully fall on the speaker. There are a lot of parties involved with that,” Roy said.

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), and Greg Steube (R-Fla.) have also said they will vote against the bill. Given the GOP’s narrow majority, that could mean Johnson cannot pass the legislation on his own.

“Broken promises” was a frequent complaint against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was accused of cutting deals with Democrats over his own conference. Axios reports that GOP leaders now worry Wednesday’s vote may not go their way, noting that House Republicans have increasingly tanked procedural rules votes to register opposition to leadership.

If the rule vote fails, leaders may be forced to bring the bill up “under suspension,” which requires a two-thirds vote to pass. There are dozens of Democrats who support the underlying defense legislation, making that path a possible fallback if Republican defections mount.

Read the full report here.