Welcome to another tough week in the House.
The growing list of deadlines is having an impact on the speaker. mike johnson As House Republicans try to push through an expansion of government spying powers set to expire Tuesday, a budget plan to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown on Wednesday and a farm bill many members say are keys to a midterm victory Thursday.
Each legislative undertaking is highly complex and fraught with interparty warfare — from the MHA’s rebellion over the farm bill to the rebellion of ultraconservatives who blocked Johnson’s last bid to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and may do so again.
Johnson is facing a rebellion from his own rank-and-file to some of his senior members over his plan to move forward with the budget proposal passed by the Senate last week that would only address immigration enforcement funding. Hard-liners are insisting they need comprehensive follow-up on last summer’s tax and megabill spending to avoid a massive loss in the November elections.
At the heart of all this are the events of last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where a gunman opened fire near a ballroom where the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House and cabinet officials in line for presidential succession were all dining.
It’s not yet clear how it will affect negotiations around extending Section 702 or passing an immigration funding bill to April 30 and June 1, respectively, but lawmakers said late Saturday night and over the weekend that it emphasizes the need to quickly reopen DHS, which houses the Secret Service.
The speaker will require almost every Republican to advance these three important items that have enormous political and policy consequences; No one is guaranteed to survive the week.
“This is going to be a circus,” said one Republican.
“Week from hell,” added another.
GOP leaders are already wasting valuable time on Tuesday, when King Charles III, who is in town for a state visit to the White House, will address a joint session, according to two people with knowledge of the plans, forcing leaders to delay the House vote until the afternoon. Republican leaders are now holding further talks on security protocols for the royal visit, which could result in additional delays for the House GOP earlier in the week.
This week will also mark 60 days since the conflict with Iran began, and some Republicans are concerned about the economic uncertainty it will create, particularly around energy prices. That’s when, some GOP lawmakers warn, they could break ranks and vote with Democrats on legislation to rein in Trump’s military authority abroad, however, with many Republicans pointing to a ceasefire — however weak — to continue opposing war powers resolutions.
And in another blow, Johnson has fallen one GOP vote short as a delegate. Tom Keane Jr. (RNJ) has been away from Capitol Hill since March 5, with little explanation from his team, saying he was dealing with a personal health matter.
AfterPolitico reported that the New Jersey House Republican called and texted Kean, but to get “radio silence”, Johnson released a statement late last week saying he had spoken “on the phone” with Kean last Thursday. He further added, “He is focusing on personal health matters and hopes to make a 100% recovery soon.”
Perhaps the biggest political landmine for Johnson will be the budget proposal required to allow Republicans to write and pass a filibuster-skirting reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement activities under DHS. Trump is seeking such a bill on his desk in a little more than a month, at which point the House is expected to finally pass a bipartisan measure to fund all other DHS operations and end the record-setting shutdown.
But rep. warren davidson Ohio and other Republicans have warned that the budget proposal would fail on the floor if Johnson advances the narrow Senate plan instead of a more expansive policy package. Republican leadership needs to convince these members to go along with the Senate budget plan for immigration funding — by promising to move a more partisan package of other GOP priorities later.
“We will not get a third reconciliation bill,” Davidson said in a statement. “We need to use Reconciliation 2.0 to accomplish the full agenda that the American people sent us to accomplish. The train is leaving the station, and we need to load it.”
Leaders plan to discuss the matter behind closed doors throughout the week, at the conference and in small groups. The speaker will try to put some more emphasis on general ideas Republicans could later adopt in a party-line package during the weekly House GOP conference meeting on Tuesday, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Johnson and his allies have warned that changes to the blueprint would send the measure back to the Senate and would almost certainly cause Republicans to miss Trump’s deadline. The White House and Homeland Security Secretary Markway Mullin are warning that the administration is running out of money to pay DHS employees, increasing the need to act quickly.
Some senior House Republicans believe the firings at the White House correspondents’ dinner could prompt some GOP lawmakers to support the budget proposal now to address their various grievances and recognize the national security risks without a fully operational DHS, said three people granted anonymity to speak candidly.
“I think Congress should pass DHS funding – it should be all there,” the representative said. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) in an interview on Sunday. “I think that would be a much higher priority.”
Many Republicans said Saturday night’s events should prompt Democrats to end the impasse over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda and vote to reopen all agency operations without conditions. Democratic leaders were signaling Sunday that there has been no change in their calculations, however, stressing the need for Republicans to take a party-line approach to immigration funding if other department functions have a chance to come back online in the coming weeks.
The Secret Service is still being paid through emergency funding, which has eased the pressure for now.
Saturday’s shooting has had the adverse effect of increasing enthusiasm among hard-liners to expand a pending budget proposal so that construction of the White House Ballroom can move forward despite legal challenges, with members arguing that elected officials need a safe place to gather safely in the face of increasing political violence.
“Any consideration of DHS resolution directives this week and beyond must provide for the construction of a secure ballroom on the White House grounds,” Rep. chip roy (R-Texas) posted on social media.
budget chairman jody erringtonJudiciary Chairman jim jordan And representative. August Pfluger — who leads the Republican Study Committee of 189 Republicans — led the movement last week to broaden the upcoming party-line package beyond stalled immigration funding. All of them stood up to present their case during a closed-door conference meeting last week, according to four people who granted anonymity to share details of the discussions.
Then there is legislation to renew Section 702 in time to meet the expiration deadline and give the Senate time to approve it for Trump’s signature.
Johnson unveiled a revamped, three-year extension late last week, but he had to sell it to a group of House Freedom Caucus members who want to rein in the government’s warrantless surveillance practices. Many hard-liners are still not backing down from demanding that leadership agree to ban central bank digital currencies as part of reauthorization.
And finally there is the agriculture bill. Activists with the Make America Healthy Again movement — a coalition that helped President Donald Trump win the presidency in 2024 — say they have been betrayed by the GOP over a provision in the law that would protect pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits.
Some Republican lawmakers are so angry with the leadership-approved plan that they are now working with a group of House Democrats to eliminate the provision or kill the entire bill, according to four people involved in the negotiations.
Farm state Republicans, who are aligned with the powerful pesticide industry, don’t think the pushback will be successful; They argue that the Farm Bill clarifies labeling rules and national standards for popular pesticides and herbicides used by the agricultural sector. But threats from the opposition could become a major headache and draw attention to the dysfunction of the larger party.
Many conservatives are privately warning that if Johnson tries to push for an extension of Section 702, which depends on some bipartisan support, they could defund the farm bill and Johnson’s DHS funding plans.
“They’re all connected,” one House Republican warned about the trio of bills.
