Hardline conservatives have struck a tentative deal with House Republicans concerned about chaos in the chamber, agreeing to raise the threshold to force a vote to oust the Speaker in exchange for concessions on rules changes — potentially putting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on a glidepath to keep the gavel come January.
The deal — which multiple sources confirmed to The Hill — would significantly weaken the House “motion to vacate” rule, eliminating the threat of any one member triggering a kind of snap vote that resulted in the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). That historic ouster has loomed over Johnson’s tenure in the top job.
Under the agreement, hardline conservatives would agree to raising the threshold to force a vote on ousting the Speaker from one member to nine members. The mechanism has been a key point of contention within the House GOP conference since McCarthy’s ouster. Hardline conservatives were adamant about keeping it to one lawmaker before Wednesday.
In exchange for that concession, other members would drop the proposed rules changes — spearheaded by those in the Main Street Caucus — that aimed to punish members for rebelling against the majority of the party in ways that risked grinding legislative activity to a halt. Proposed penalties included removing members from committees if they support a motion to vacate against a Republican Speaker.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who has been a vocal opponent of the rules changes, called them a “non-starter.”
“All of the targeting amendments and stuff, those are all gone. And that was, as I tweeted out earlier, those were a non-starter,” he said. “Those were a deal-killer.”
The deal was........