House Republicans are proving once again that they can’t govern.
For the second week in a row, Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to shut down the House early after a group of Republican rebels torpedoed a key procedural vote, bringing the chamber’s work to a screeching halt and exposing the deep fractures running through the GOP.
The latest revolt has left Republicans openly sniping at one another, infuriated that internal feuds are derailing their own agenda while handing Democrats an easy talking point heading into next year’s elections.
The infighting got so bad that Johnson effectively waved the white flag, sending lawmakers home early for the second straight week.
Even Donald Trump is getting into the fight. During a White House dinner Tuesday night, Trump reportedly asked Johnson whether members of the House Freedom Caucus were responsible for sinking the vote that would have advanced defense funding and other Republican priorities. After Johnson confirmed that some were, Trump reportedly called the move “stupid” and complained Republicans should stick together the way Democrats do.
Trump even mocked the holdouts as the “3 o’clock caucus”—a jab at the lawmakers he says constantly need late-night phone calls to convince them to support their own party’s legislation.
The rebellion was fueled by several different grievances.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) demanded that Republican leaders attach the SAVE America Act—a Trump-backed voter ID and proof-of-citizenship measure—to the annual defense bill. Johnson had proposed a different strategy for advancing the legislation, but Luna rejected it, arguing the Senate would simply strip it out.
Ironically, Luna’s move came just days after Trump urged Republicans to stop “grandstanding” and quit voting against procedural rules.
Luna insists she’s carrying out Trump’s agenda anyway.
“I think that we are exactly in lockstep with the president,” she said.
Many of her fellow Republicans couldn’t disagree more.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) blasted the strategy in blunt terms.
“It’s dumb to shut down the House to pressure the Senate,” Bacon said. “Low IQ strategists.”
Others were angry over an entirely different issue.
Several Freedom Caucus members said leadership broke a promise to schedule legislation codifying Trump’s border policies before Independence Day. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) argued Republicans should be spending their time turning Trump’s executive actions into permanent law instead of moving on without addressing immigration.
Meanwhile, other lawmakers voted against the rule over disputes involving pensions, amendments to the defense bill, or unrelated complaints—underscoring just how many directions the Republican conference is being pulled at once.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) summed up the dysfunction with unusual candor.
“I was gonna behave and be a good girl and vote for it,” she joked. “But it was going down anyway. May as well play.”
Instead of keeping members in Washington to hammer out a compromise, Johnson chose to send lawmakers home, effectively conceding that the conference couldn’t govern itself.
The chaos has many Republicans increasingly frustrated that they’re sabotaging their own agenda at the worst possible time.
Bacon warned that the infighting is handing House Democrats—and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in particular—a political gift.
“They’ve handed Jeffries a win,” Bacon said, arguing Republicans are giving Democrats fresh ammunition for next year’s campaigns.
Democrats, unsurprisingly, have been happy to highlight the spectacle.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said grinding the House to a halt over demands that don’t have enough support only prevents Congress from handling basic responsibilities like funding essential programs and keeping the government functioning.
Despite the turmoil, Johnson insisted he remains firmly in charge.
“We have full control of the conference,” the speaker told reporters. “People get very emotional about things, and sometimes they make irrational decisions.”
The problem for Johnson is that those “irrational decisions” have now shut down the House for two consecutive weeks.
With only a handful of legislative days remaining before the August recess, Republicans are rapidly running out of time to pass the additional party-line bills they hoped would showcase their agenda before the midterm campaign kicks into high gear.
Instead, the party is showcasing something else entirely: its inability to govern.
