House Republicans are discussing whether to discipline members who vote against key GOP procedural motions or otherwise seek to undermine party leaders, according to six people granted anonymity to describe the behind-the-scenes effort.
The controversial fight is set to play out as the House GOP finalizes its conference rules package as soon as next week. If successful, it could begin to pull back power from maverick holdouts who successfully weaponized the thin Republican majority this Congress to elicit concessions from leadership.
They include members of the House Freedom Caucus, who frequently refused to advance GOP “rules” setting up floor debates, as well as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who used discharge petitions on multiple occasions to sidestep top party leaders. Many of those fractious members are considered allies of the incoming minority leader, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan.
The debate is putting Jordan between scores of frustrated rank-and-file Republicans who want to see a crackdown and some of his hard-liner allies.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said several House colleagues brought up the idea of punishing members during a closed-door GOP leadership election this week. Simpson said Friday he said he had “never” seen so many rebellions as Republicans saw in the past two years and said “a lot of members” want to prevent similar behavior in future GOP majorities.
“What do you do with those people?” Simpson said. “There’s a lot of people that are very upset about that, and it’s a hard thing to try to deal with. How do you punish them?”
Another House Republican granted anonymity to confirm the discussions said, “There’s a strong push for accountability for those who deliberately sabotage the will of the team.”
Luna said in an interview Friday she is opposed the move.
“There’s a difference between going against a rule and effectively preventing us from being able to legislate,” she said. “They’re effectively trying to control us.”
The conference rules debate was set to happen this week, but it was delayed indefinitely at Jordan’s behest after his election as GOP leader. It is expected to be rescheduled soon.
Simpson praised Jordan, saying he has been a “team player” since his failed speakership bid in 2023: “He always tried to convince the other people to vote for these rules,” he said. “He’s been a good member, and I think that’s exactly why he won.”
Any changes are likely to have negligible immediate effect as Republicans head deep into the minority, losing control of the floor. But some members are pushing the effort forward now to set a precedent for future GOP majorities and establish that Republicans cannot support Democratic procedural votes. Punishments could include stripping members of committee assignments or other actions, some of the people said.
Simpson said it may be “the perfect time” to act because “it probably really doesn’t matter right now.”
“We’ve been complaining about this for a long time,” he said, while noting he himself had voted for a Democratic rule for a bill he’d negotiated, so “some leeway” would be appropriate.
