Mike Johnson suffers brutal defeat as Republicans revolt

Amid a House GOP meeting led by Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican congressman suffers a loss as members of his own party revolt.

Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a tentative deal Sunday that would establish an overall spending level of nearly $1.66 trillion in the 2024 fiscal year. The proposed plan reflects the deal struck by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year—the same deal that ultimately led to his ousting in the fall.

Although Johnson has stressed that he wants to avoid a government shutdown as the deadline looms less than two weeks away, he faces critics from hard-line Republicans arguing that the topline figure undercuts conservative objectives and have openly threatened to introduce another motion to vacate that could remove Johnson from his post.

On Wednesday, in protest of Johnson’s spending deal, 12 Republicans voted against a procedural vote on an unrelated bill, preventing the chamber from debating and voting on the measures.

Newsweek has reached out to Johnson via email for comment.

Journalist and political analyst Jake Sherman shared the vote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that the House is “proving to be ungovernable” once again.

“OFFICIAL: @SpeakerJohnson’s leadership lost a rule vote on the floor.

“12 conservatives voted against the procedural measure, as a protest against Johnson’s spending deal with @SenSchumer.Vote was 203-216. The House, once again, is proving to be ungovernable.”

Among those who opposed the procedural vote were Representative Chip Roy of Texas, Bob Good of Virginia and Andy Biggs of Arizona.

In addition, Fox News Reporter Liz Elkind said, “Looks like Chip Roy and Mike Johnson are arguing on the House floor right now, lots of animated hand movements.”

Meanwhile, Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi noted the move, calling the House GOP’s full of “dysfunction and chaos.”

“So far, it seems House Republicans are intent on having 2024 in Congress look a lot like it did in 2023: Full of dysfunction and chaos,” Krishnamoorthi wrote on X.

This comes after Representative Warren Davidson stormed out of the House GOP meeting telling reporters on the Hill, “I’m not gonna sit in there and listen to that drivel because he has no plans to do anything except surrender.”

In addition, when asked whether Johnson should lose his job over the spending deal, Davidson said, “He should have never been hired.”

The Ohio Republican continued to speak out against Johnson’s deal, arguing that the entire Republican Party would be more willing to speak out about their opposition to the deal if it was not being spearheaded by a Republican.

“If Hakeem Jeffries announced this deal with Schumer, Republicans would be united in opposition,” Davidson wrote in a post on X. “It spends more than the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act agreed to spend. And, it fails to deliver ANYTHING on @HouseGOP policy promises.”