Speaker Mike Johnson left the White House on Thursday with political oxygen he desperately needed. President Trump publicly urged House Republicans to stop torpedoing procedural votes, breaking a gridlock that has strangled the chamber's floor schedule for days. Johnson also officially sent a bipartisan housing bill to the White House, signaling momentum after Trump had rejected it just 24 hours earlier.
The reversal comes after the speaker was forced to cancel votes and adjourn early this week when conservative hardliners threatened to tank rule votes in protest of the Senate's inaction on the SAVE Act. That spending bill has become an obsession consuming House GOP energy, with frustration mounting over a measure Republicans have already passed three separate times.
The frustration is real and spreading across the conference. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania told Axios the housing bill cancellation was a mistake, calling Trump's tactics "New York real estate leverage tactics" that don't belong in government. "He should sign it," Fitzpatrick said. "This is a win, and the House already voted on this SAVE Act three times."
Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska echoed the complaint, urging Republicans to move forward on a bipartisan version of SAVE instead of grinding the chamber to a halt. Rep. Carlos Giminez of Florida was blunt: "The SAVE America Act? It's over there," he said, pointing toward the Senate. "We did our thing, all right. So what you're gonna force over here them to do something different? That's insane, and I don't play insane."
House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain of Michigan highlighted the human cost. "What I don't like about holding the rule hostage is that it denies me, and the 750,000 people I represent, a vote," she said. Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia piled on: "With them being obstructionist like they are, that's unfortunate, because we can't get our work done."
One wild card remains. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida told reporters Thursday she isn't committing to support next week's rule if leadership blocks her attempt to attach SAVE to the annual defense bill. The truce, in other words, comes with conditions.
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's intervention buys Johnson breathing room, but the SAVE Act obsession reveals a caucus that still can't distinguish between leverage and legislative suicide."
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