House Freedom Caucus Members Weigh Motion to Vacate House Speaker Mike Johnson Over Spending Bill

Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Members of the House Freedom Caucus are considering launching a bid to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) following dissatisfaction with the recent bipartisan spending deal that has raised eyebrows due to concerns due to concerns of exacerbating the national debt and lack of border security measures.

Last September, the House of Representatives passed a last-minute bill to keep the government funded for an additional 45 days, narrowly averting a government shutdown that would have commenced at 12:01 a.m. The bill, was spearheaded by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

With a 335-91 vote, the House approved a 45-day temporary funding measure that excludes border security and $6 billion funding for Ukraine.

The bill includes provisions for disaster relief funds that likely swayed some Democrats to vote in favor. 90 GOP NOs and 1 Dem NO.

In November, Speaker Johnson devised a “two-part” continuing resolution to prevent a shutdown post-November 17, which was due to the government funding ending.

This resolution split the extension of appropriations bills into two deadlines: it extends the Agriculture, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Energy and Water appropriations bills until January 19, while the remaining bills would be extended until February 2. The appropriation bill notably omitted aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as an extension of FISA 702 authorities. However, it did extend the expired Farm Bill provisions through September 2024.

As the new year began, and with deadlines looming, Johnson struck a long-term spending deal, announcing a $1.590 trillion budget for fiscal 2024, which he stated included significant cuts to Democrat spending priorities.

Read Johnson’s letter to his colleagues:

After many weeks of dialogue and debate, we have secured hard-fought concessions to unlock the FY 24 topline numbers and allow the Appropriations Committee to finally begin negotiating and completing the twelve annual appropriations bills.

The topline constitutes $1.590 trillion for FY24 — the statutory levels of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. That includes $886 billion for defense and $704 billion for nondefense.

As has been widely reported, a list of extra-statutory adjustments was agreed upon by negotiators last summer. The agreement today achieves key modifications to the June framework that will secure more than $16 billion in additional spending cuts to offset the discretionary spending levels.

As you know, the Senate marked up their appropriations bills $14 billion above the FRA levels and the adjustments. The agreement reached today thus allows for none of that funding, and combined with the additional savings described above, results in an overall $30 billion total reduction from the Senate’s spending plans.

While the levels of emergency spending from FY23 will be maintained, no additional emergency funding, or additional no-outlay changes in mandatory programs (CHIMPS), will be included, thus eliminating two of the worst accounting gimmicks included in the FRA framework. Unlike other adjustments, which are by nature limited in time or amount, the adjustments described above threatened to become permanent fixtures of the funding baseline as in previous budget agreements. Removing them now could save taxpayers more than $200 billion over the next 10 years.

In summary, the concessions we achieved will include an additional $10 billion in cuts to the IRS mandatory funding (for a total of $20 billion), which was a key part of the Democrats’ “Inflation Reduction Act.” In addition, we will cut $6.1 billion from the Biden’s Administration’s continued COVID-era slush funds, which we achieved despite fierce opposition from the White House. The result is real savings to American taxpayers and real reductions in the federal bureaucracy.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has praised Johnson on this deal, saying, “He’s a very decent, respectful guy, unlike some, who want to be macho and bullying and threatening and all that. He’s not like that.”

According to reports, the Senate’s minibus includes:

  • $65.5 billion dollars to Ukraine
  • $14.4 billion to Israel
  • $5.318 billion emergency funding to CBP to process illegals faster
  •  $2.352 billion emergency funding for ICE
  • $755 million for U.S citizenship & immigration

This is despite the nation’s soaring debt, which FOX News reports to stand at 34 trillion with 725 billion in interest alone.

House Freedom Caucus members, including Representatives Chip Roy (TX), Eric Burlison (MO), Andrew Clyde (GA), Bob Good (VA), Andy Ogles (TN), and Andy Biggs (AZ), have expressed vehement opposition to the spending deal, decrying it as an extension of wasteful spending and a betrayal of conservative principles.

READ:

House Freedom Caucus also released its statement via X: “It’s even worse than we thought. Don’t believe the spin. Once you break through typical Washington math, the true total programmatic spending level is $1.658 trillion — not $1.59 trillion. This is total failure.”

The possibility of removing Johnson from his Speaker position has gained traction, with Representative Chip Roy hinting at a potential motion to vacate the chair on The Steve Deace Show. Other members like Representatives Tim Burchett (TN) and Victoria Spartz (IN) acknowledged the discussions surrounding Johnson’s removal, emphasizing the need for strong leadership and accountability.

Newsweek reported:

Representative Chip Roy, a Texas Republican and policy chair of the Freedom Caucus, has been a vocal critic of the tentative budget agreement. Appearing on BlazeTV’s The Steve Deace Show on Tuesday, Roy said he’d consider filing a motion to vacate Johnson over the deal.

“I’m leaving it on the table,” Roy said. “I’m not going to say I’m going to go file it tomorrow night. I’m not saying I’m not going to file it tomorrow. I think the speaker needs to know that we’re angry about it.”

When asked about the possibility of removing Johnson from office, Representative Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, told reporters on Tuesday that “a lot of people were talking about it.”

Representative Victoria Spartz, an Indiana Republican, told Newsweek on Tuesday night that “people here and there” have been seriously considering ousting the speaker.

“Ultimately, it’s up to us members to be able to pull the gun,” Spartz said. “It’s not even just the Speaker. We’ll have to figure it out and be strong. Ultimately, Mike [Johnson] needs to show that he can win. He definitely inherited a difficult situation, so we’ll judge the result.”

During an interview on Monday, Rep. Chip Roy didn’t rule out the possibility of Speaker Mike Johnson’s removal as House Speaker.

Rep. Chip Roy said, “That’s not the road I prefer,” but doesn’t rule it out. “It isn’t good.”

Amidst this turmoil, Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02) is set to hold a press conference on Wednesday, January 10, demanding tighter border control. He will be joined by colleagues from both the House and Senate, indicating a broader conservative pushback against the current administration’s policies.

As the deadline for the spending deal looms closer, the future of Speaker Mike Johnson’s tenure hangs in the balance, with the Freedom Caucus leading the charge for fiscal conservatism and border security.

The post House Freedom Caucus Members Weigh Motion to Vacate House Speaker Mike Johnson Over Spending Bill appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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