House GOP leaders face increasing pressure to bring the chamber back to Washington amid a shutdown fight with no end in sight.
A growing number of GOP lawmakers are expressing frustration with his leadership for prolonging the House recess, and warning that the approach around that inaction could adversely affect the party to the benefit of Democrats.
The uproar is causing headaches for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his leadership team, who have made canceling votes a central part of Republicans’ shutdown strategy. In doing so, they are betting that an empty House will pressure Senate Democrats to drop their opposition to the GOP spending bill and help reopen the government.
But as the shutdown reached its second week, neither side would budge an inch, leading to federal workers receiving smaller pay checks on Friday and threatening similar pay cuts on military personnel who are at risk of missing their first scheduled paycheck next Wednesday.
Those pressure points have heightened calls from within the GOP conference for Johnson to reconvene the chamber, if only to advance legislation to ensure compensation to the troops.
“Military pay should not be held hostage because of Washington’s dysfunction!” Representative Jane Kiggans, a Virginia Republican who represents the massive naval base of Norfolk,Wrote on X this week,
Kiggans, who is the lead sponsor of legislation to pay troops during the shutdown, urged Johnson and GOP leaders to pass his bill “immediately.” And he invoked a powerful advocate in President Trump, who has said Congress will “likely” pass legislation to prevent any delays in those payments.
“The president has made it clear: We have to pay our troops,” Kiggans said.
She’s hardly alone.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said this week that Johnson should bring the House back to Washington “for a number of reasons.” But the Georgia firebrand pointed specifically to the issue of health care premiums, which are expected to skyrocket at the end of the year, when increased subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are set to expire. Greene is a rare Republican urging GOP leaders to urgently address the issue to keep patients from “simply perishing.”
“Any serious speaker of the House is going to build consensus in his conference behind a plan,”Green told CNN“This is not a secret that is worked on in a committee.”
House Republicans held a conference-wide call Thursday, during which several GOP lawmakers also expressed frustration about the leadership’s strategy, which includes canceling all votes since Sept. 29. Those figures raised concerns that putting the House in recess during the shutdown was a bad look for Republicans, according to a source on the call. Those dissenting included Representatives Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) and Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.).MSNBC reported this week,
Sided with Kiggans, other Republicans made clear they want GOP leaders to tackle the issue of military pay, the source said.
Johnson, for his part, has sent mixed messages on the issue. On Tuesday, the speaker suggested he was willing to support a stand-alone bill to pay troops and air-traffic controllers even if other parts of the government remain shut down.
“I’m definitely ready for it,” he said. “We’ve done it before. We want to make sure our troops are paid.”
But the idea is opposed by Senate Republican leaders, who are hoping to maximize pressure on Senate Democrats to support the GOP’s short-term spending bill, which would fund all areas of the federal government, including the military. And Johnson quickly changed his tune to reject the Pentagon’s stand-alone bill, saying Democrats should support a larger package if they want to fund the military.
“We have voted multiple times to pay the troops. We’ve already done it. We did it in the House three weeks ago,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Friday. “The ball is in the Senate Democrats’ court right now. That’s all.”
Democrats have criticized that argument as they seek bipartisan negotiations to address expiring Obamacare subsidies. But in recent days, GOP lawmakers have joined them, raising questions about Johnson’s reckless attitude.
Representative Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) was the one who publicly challenged Johnson’s claim that the House “has already done our job.”
“No, what the House has done is passed a 7-week continuing resolution.”Kelly posted on X on Wednesday“The whole reason CR is necessary is because Congress has not done its job in passing the budget on time. The Speaker should not even think of canceling the session for the third consecutive week.”
Two days later, Johnsoncanceled votesFor the third consecutive week.
The speaker has suggested there is a way to ensure payments to the troops without bringing back House lawmakers: Trump could do it unilaterally.
“The executive branch, the President, are working on ways they can, as well, to make sure the troops are paid,” Johnson said during Friday’s press conference.
Such a step will reduce some pressure on Congress to end the bandh. But it won’t break the impasse over how to reopen the government, nor will it ease the fears of Republicans eager to return to the Capitol to show voters they’re fighting the good fight.
Representative Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, predicted those fears in September, when the House was in session before the shutdown.
“I hope we come back,” Cole said at the time. “Our leaders have to take this decision, but I intend to come back here.
“I don’t think it would feel good to stay at home when the government is shut down.”
