The GOP leadership could face a real stink.
Hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus have activated their Floor Action Response Team, also known as FART, to carefully monitor any surprise resolutions aimed at sabotaging them, a source familiar with the matter told the Post.
FART involves Freedom Caucus members taking turns searching for unannounced resolutions that congressional leaders could pass by unanimous consent to circumvent the agitators’ obstacles.
Amid the fervor over whether the far right would attempt to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), calls for retaliatory or defensive measures have been made by the traditionalist Republican faction.
On Wednesday night, for example, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who supports Johnson, suggested that Republicans should remove the three recalcitrant members of the House Rules Committee.
“The three members who refuse to support the President’s agenda should immediately resign from the Rules Committee. If they refuse, they must be immediately expelled. They are there on behalf of the conference, not themselves. he posted on.
The three members he referred to appear to be Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-SC), all of whom have threatened to scuttle Johnson’s plan to make adopt four foreign laws. assistance programs this week.
That trio had apparently been named to the Rules Committee as part of a broader package of concessions made by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to lock in the gavel last year.
As such, they have repeatedly rejected key rules as leaders seek to fast-track legislation, forcing Johnson to rely on Democrats to pass bills under suspension of the rules, which requires a majority of both third party.
Johnson did not blame these Republicans for weakening his negotiating position and thwarting efforts to secure concessions on border security.
“I don’t have all of my Republicans agreeing on this rule, and that means the only way to get a rule passed is to require a few Democrats,” Johnson told CNN’s “The Lead” on Wednesday when asked on complaints. he did not seek border security.
“Well, (Democrats are) not in favor of border security,” he said. “So we have no means. I literally don’t have the numbers.
Some members of the Freedom Caucus have bragged about FART in the past.
“There is substantial legislation that is being passed by the House of Representatives without a single member voting on it…it’s unanimous consent and they’re trying to pass it very quickly,” said Rep. Lauren Boebert ( R-Colo.) explained previously.
“We make things really smelly for them,” she added, referring to FART.
Meanwhile, Johnson faces a growing threat to his presidency for seeking to advance a $60.8 billion package for Ukraine, as well as three other foreign aid bills.
That rattled his far-right flank, which was already angered by the spending bill and reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that he pushed through.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Massie have already publicly made a motion to vacate the chair — or oust her — in protest.
So far, no one has pressed a motion to overturn and there are signs that Democrats could bail out Johnson.
“My philosophy is you do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “If I operated out of fear of a motion to leave, I would never be able to do my job. »
As House Republicans descend into civil war, some are murmuring about reducing the one-vote threshold needed to trigger a motion to overturn.
That sparked a “tense” exchange between Johnson and several members Thursday over the aid bills, according to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the effort to impeach McCarthy last October.
Gaetz claimed he wanted clarification from Johnson that leaders would not try to weaken the motion to remove the threshold and “didn’t get the response we wanted.”
“I think a motion to cancel is something that could put the conference in jeopardy,” Gaetz told reporters. “But we are not going to abandon this tool of accountability, particularly at a time when we see American interests subjugated to foreign interests.”
New York Post
