A large number of House Republicans are poised to skip the party’s annual issues conference later this week, posing a challenge to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as he seeks to wrangle his often unruly conference ahead of the 2024 election.
Several GOP lawmakers told the Washington Examiner they do not plan on attending the conference, which is set to begin Wednesday evening at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Republicans cited different reasons for their absences, with many noting they wanted to use the recess period to be with family.
“It is spring break, folks,” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), who is not attending the conference. “I’m going home to spend time with my family. … I can be effective at this job and still keep my family first.”
“We’ve been here; we’ve been among each other for so long. We’ve had retreats. They’ve been in the halls of Longworth,” said Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), referring to one of the Capitol office buildings. “That’s not to say it’s not worthy; it’s certainly worthwhile. … Just for me, I gotta be with my family.”
Others noted the busy campaign season as several lawmakers have fully entered the general election cycle to fight off Democratic challengers looking to flip control of the lower chamber next year.
“Well, this is campaign season. And I’ve got an event with people all over the district and so it just came at a bad time,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-NC). “If it had been after, it would’ve been great. But I don’t make the selection date on that.”
Some members who talked to the Washington Examiner also pointed to the upcoming shutdown deadline next week, noting lawmakers must still finalize appropriations legislation before the House reconvenes next week.
“It all depends on what happens with this whole appropriation stuff,” said Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL), who said he was still undecided on the conference. “For the appropriation bills … [those] pretty much those have to be out there probably by Sunday night. So we don’t have a lot of time.”
Under House rules, legislative text must be available for at least 72 hours before it can be brought to the floor for a vote. To get an appropriations bill through both the House and Senate and to the president’s desk for his signature before the midnight deadline on March 22, time is of the essence.
It’s not yet clear how many lawmakers will attend the annual conference, although it appears there will be just over 100 members in attendance, according to a source familiar with planning. That could pose a challenge to GOP leadership as they look to project unity among the 219 House GOP members leading into the 2024 election after months of infighting and intraparty squabbles.
The annual issues conference has long served as an opportunity for party leaders to discuss messaging and campaign strategies to get on the same page politically and build a sense of camaraderie among lawmakers. Democrats held their own issues conference just last month.
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Now Johnson must grapple with a smaller subset to energize during the three-day jaunt before lawmakers return to a spending deadline fight as well as disagreements on a path forward for Ukraine aid and border security legislation.
The Washington Examiner contacted spokespeople for the speaker but did not receive a response.