House Speaker Mike Johnson faces a legislative gauntlet next week that could test whether his reputation as a dealmaker survives a conference increasingly willing to defy President Trump.
Three major votes loom: a long-term extension of Section 702 FISA surveillance authority, a farm bill, and a Senate-passed budget resolution funding immigration enforcement. The collision of these priorities has Republicans at each other's throats, and Johnson cannot count on Trump to deliver the votes he once could.
Rep. Troy Nehls called it bluntly: "Next week is going to be hell week."
The deepest fault line involves the Department of Homeland Security funding package. House Republicans reject what they view as a bait-and-switch in the Senate's two-step budget process. They want to maximize the scope of a second reconciliation bill rather than settle for a narrow ICE and Border Patrol measure.
"We don't trust the two step process," Rep. Keith Self said. "That's a sticking point."
House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington acknowledged the opposition. "We're not there yet," he told The Hill. The pressure is real: DHS is running short on funds to pay its workforce, and GOP leaders may not have weeks to spare on additional legislative wrangling.
The FISA renewal has become its own minefield. Conservative holdouts demand warrant protections that the current extension does not include. Rep. Tim Burchett made his position clear: "If you're not going to have warrants, I'm not going to play ball."
Self added another wrinkle, linking support for FISA to an unrelated measure on central bank digital currency. The program expires next Thursday without action, and even with a deal, lawmakers are preparing contingency plans for another short-term patch.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise reported that a Wednesday meeting "resolved a lot of the issues," but Thursday morning brought fresh skepticism from conservatives. The speaker's traditional edge in persuasion has dimmed as his members increasingly chart their own course, independent of the White House.
Author James Rodriguez: "Johnson built his brand on impossible votes, but a fractured Republican caucus testing him all at once is a different animal than managing individual dissidents."
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