A group of conservative House Republicans dealt a setback to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday by blocking a procedural rule needed to advance several pieces of legislation, including the annual defense authorization bill, as divisions within the GOP over election integrity and border security continued to spill onto the House floor.
The House voted 198-224 to reject the procedural rule, with 14 Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. The defeat halted consideration of a package of legislation and extended a period of legislative gridlock that has frustrated Republican leaders.
Republicans voting against the rule included Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eric Burlison of Missouri, Eli Crane of Arizona, Randy Fine of Florida, Andy Harris of Maryland, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Max Miller of Ohio, Chip Roy of Texas, Keith Self of Texas, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Mike Turner of Ohio, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Lauren Boebert of Colorado. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., also switched his vote to “no,” preserving leadership’s ability to bring the measure back for another vote.
The failed vote comes as several conservatives have refused to advance House business until the Senate acts on the SAVE America Act, a voter ID proposal backed by President Donald Trump. The legislation would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and require voters to present identification when casting a ballot.
In an effort to satisfy conservatives, Johnson announced Monday that the procedural rule would merge the SAVE America Act with the National Defense Authorization Act after House passage using a process known as MIRVing. The combined package would then be sent to the Senate.
Following Tuesday’s vote, Johnson expressed frustration with Republicans who opposed the rule, arguing their votes also worked against advancing the SAVE America Act.
“A couple of the members, if you ask them why they voted no, they’ll say it was out of frustration from Senate Democrats refusing to do the will of the American people and work on election integrity,” Johnson said. “It makes no sense for us to stop our very important progress forward from House Republicans, because some Senate Democrats are refusing to do their job. That’s where we are. That’s the reality of it.”
Johnson said House leadership would continue working to secure enough votes to pass the rule in the coming days.
“We’re going to do it again,” he said.
When asked whether the failed vote suggested he had lost control of the Republican conference, Johnson dismissed the suggestion.
“We have full control of the conference,” he said, noting that Republicans are operating with the smallest House majority in U.S. history.
“People get very emotional about things, and sometimes they make irrational decisions,” Johnson added.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna argued before the vote that the leadership’s strategy would not effectively protect the SAVE America Act. In a post on X, she said combining the measures through the procedural process would allow the Senate to “easily” remove the election bill. Luna instead called on House leadership to permit an amendment attaching the voter ID measure directly to the text of the defense bill.
Even so, the Senate would still be able to remove the provision even if it were included in the base text of the legislation passed by the House.
Rep. Chip Roy said his opposition was driven less by the SAVE America Act than by border security. Roy said Republican leaders had previously committed to bringing border security legislation to the floor by Independence Day in exchange for advancing funding for immigration enforcement.
Pointing to the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship ruling issued earlier Tuesday, Roy argued Republicans should be moving more aggressively on immigration.
“We need to be on offense, and we’re not,” Roy said. “We ought to be codifying what the president’s doing.”
Rep. Mike Turner opposed the rule after seeking to use the defense bill to restore terminated Delphi retiree pensions. Johnson said Turner’s proposal faced procedural obstacles because it involved appropriations on an authorizing measure. Turner was joined in voting against the rule by fellow Ohio Republican Max Miller and Rep. Victoria Spartz.
The procedural rule would have cleared the way for debate on the National Defense Authorization Act, legislation funding national security and the State Department, a resolution marking the anniversary of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and other measures.
The defeat leaves Johnson searching for enough Republican support to revive his legislative agenda. With the GOP holding only a razor-thin majority, the speaker needs nearly unanimous Republican backing on procedural votes.
The SAVE America Act has already passed the House but remains stalled in the Senate, where Democrats have pledged to oppose it, leaving it short of the votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has rejected calls from some conservatives to eliminate or change the filibuster in order to pass the legislation.
Last week, Trump urged House Republicans to unite and stop voting down procedural rules in a Truth Social post after meeting with Johnson.
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