Conservatives bring the House to a halt as anger at McCarthy's debt deal remains

WASHINGTON — A small bloc of conservative bomb-throwers is holding the floor of the House of Representatives hostage.

For a second straight day, they blocked several bills backed by GOP leadership from moving forward Wednesday in protest of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s handling of the debt deal he struck with President Joe Biden.

The brazen revolt means that this hard-right faction, made up mostly of House Freedom Caucus members, has ground legislating on the chamber floor to a screeching halt, undermining the GOP majority and McCarthy’s power.

“House Leadership couldn’t Hold the Line. Now we Hold the Floor,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a fierce McCarthy critic and one of the ring leaders of the floor revolt, tweeted on Wednesday.

“HOLD THE FLOOR!” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., replied to Gaetz in a tweet.

June 7, 202303:18

On Tuesday, Gaetz, Boebert and nine other conservatives took the extremely rare step of bucking GOP leadership and teaming with Democrats to vote no on a procedural rule vote for a slew of GOP messaging bills. The rule failed on the House floor — the first time that had happened since 2002 and a major embarrassment for McCarthy’s leadership team.

Without a successful rule vote, none of the Republican bills can advance.

The conservatives said McCarthy’s debt deal with Biden did not cut enough spending, and they accused GOP leaders of retaliating against conservative Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., for voting against the rule on the debt package last week.

By Wednesday, the conservatives still had not backed down, though it is unclear what exactly they were demanding of leadership.

GOP leaders had hoped to try again Wednesday afternoon to pass the rule governing a suite of bills, including two to protect gas stoves from federal bans. But shortly after noon, the House went into recess, a sign no agreement had been reached between GOP leadership and the far-right rebels who have managed to exploit the GOP’s fragile 222-212 majority.

Speaking to reporters, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who controls the floor, could not guarantee votes would be held later Wednesday.

“We’re gonna get it back on track. … We’ve delivered some really big things but there’s a lot more to do,” Scalise assured reporters. “We’re still having conversations.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.