House Speaker Suffers Blow as GOP Rebellion Scuttles Vote (1)

Three Republicans split with their party to derail a procedural vote and effectively freeze the House floor Tuesday in a revolt against GOP leaders’ efforts to block politically tricky votes on President Donald Trump’s economic policies.

Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Don Bacon (Neb.), and Kevin Kiley (Calif.) voted against a rule to allow consideration of a critical minerals bill (H.R. 3617) and other legislation, which failed 214-217. They tanked it due to language tucked in by House GOP leadership that would extend until July 31 a preexisting provision blocking lawmakers from forcing votes on Trump’s tariffs. That prohibition on tariff vote-triggering would expire and allow Democrats to force a vote Wednesday without House action.

The procedural failure is a blow to Trump and to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who hasn’t lost a rule vote since a conservative rebellion last July. Rules are typically uncontroversial party-line votes, but hardliners in recent years have become increasingly willing to kill them to gain leverage with leadership. The procedural chaos illustrates the near-impossibility of passing party-line bills in the House without full buy-in from every corner of the GOP conference.

Johnson said after the vote he doesn’t expect to put similar tariff language up for a vote Wednesday, instead focusing on conservative election legislation that was already on the schedule. That decision makes it likely that the House will vote on a tariff-related resolution in the coming days.

“I need unanimity every day, and we didn’t get it tonight,” Johnson told reporters while leaving the House chamber. “We have three members who disagreed. But I think what you saw on the board is the vast majority of the House Republicans agree wholeheartedly with the president, and we’re going to give him the latitude to continue his trade policy.”

Bacon defended his no vote in a social media post Tuesday night, calling tariffs a “net negative” for the economy.

“Article I of the Constitution places authority over taxes and tariffs with Congress for a reason, but for too long, we have handed that authority to the executive branch,” he said in the post.

Johnson on Tuesday morning projected confidence about advancing the rule, but he later delayed the vote by seven hours in hopes of pushing it through by convincing tariff skeptics to vote yes. GOP leaders have frequently had to haggle with detractors over procedural votes—including as recently as last week on legislation to end a partial government shutdown—but have often been able to flip opposition while holding votes open.

The GOP’s margin for error will likely get a small boost next month when Georgia voters choose a lawmaker to succeed former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, but the cushion will be short-lived — the special election to fill Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s former House seat in New Jersey is slated for April.

House Democrats led by Foreign Affairs ranking member Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) are likely to force a vote on Trump’s tariffs as soon as Wednesday unless Johnson intervenes. The vote would be politically tricky for many GOP moderates who need to walk a tightrope between appeasing the president and distancing themselves from economic policies that could prove damaging in midterm elections this November.