Speaker Mike Johnson faces potential attendance problems as major bills loom

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is grappling with an attendance issue as lawmakers begin to prioritize the 2026 midterms, potentially complicating the passage of key measures in the months ahead.

The predicament was on full display this week: 22 Republicans did not vote for any bills on Tuesday, followed by seven on Wednesday and five on Thursday. By comparison, 21 Democrats did not vote for any bills on Tuesday, followed by six on Wednesday and nine on Thursday.

To be sure, the week was complicated by predictions of a storm delayed travel back to Washington at the beginning of the week and there were no must-pass bills on the agenda.

But some GOP lawmakers expressed unease with the possibility that absences could spill over into more significant weeks, with major bills including on housing affordability, spy powers and government funding still looming.

When asked if he was concerned about GOP attendance, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said, “Absolutely. We’ve got to get people here.”

Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) said that “given the slim majority, you’re always going to have to have concern about attendance.”

“It’s like herding cats, and it’s a hard problem. It’s really the responsibility of the whip. But I think Tom Emmer does as good of a job as possible. I think the other thing is, take a look at the importance of some of those bills and significance,” Burlison said. “Members who are kind of having to weigh, it’s campaign year, so they’re having to weigh the opportunity costs of being in their district to some of these votes, and some of these votes are not exactly top priority as much as some of the other ones are.”

“I’m not saying that’s the way I’d do it, but I think that’s probably in the calculus of some members,” he added.

For Johnson, every GOP vote is critical. He can afford to lose only one member on any party-line vote, assuming full attendance from both parties.

The tricky margins have been on full display in several recent votes.

GOP leaders held a war powers vote in January open for more than an hour until Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) — who at the time was campaigning for Texas Senate and whom Johnson had chided for being absent on a tricky vote earlier in the day — arrived to cast a vote. Without his opposition, the war powers resolution would have passed in an embarrassing loss for President Trump and the GOP.

The GOP whip’s office said in a statement that their team “talks to all members and offices on a weekly basis about attendance. It is extremely rare that we enter a vote without knowing exactly how many members will be voting.”

Attendance is likely to become a greater challenge in the months ahead, as members navigate competitive primaries and the election season intensifies. Members who are not seeking reelection or who have lost their primaries may also begin to disengage.

Asked earlier this month whether he had concerns that his members who lost the primaries will show up to vote, Johnson said, “They’ll do their duty. It’s not a bunch of them, it’s a couple, and they’ll do their duty.”

At the same time, Johnson may have only a narrow window to push much of Trump’s legislative agenda over the finish line, as the president’s party historically suffers losses in midterm elections.

House GOP leaders are aiming for a clean extension of Section 702 of FISA, which authorizes surveillance of foreign nationals outside the U.S. It expires on April 20. But the trickiest part will be passing the rule, which would tee up debate and a vote on the final passage of the measure.

Rule votes are generally party-line affairs and a test of party loyalty regardless of how lawmakers intend to vote on the underlying legislation. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is already vowing to oppose the rule, unless the Senate passes voting reforms demanded by Trump. And several other Republicans have said they might join her, in which case Johnson will need the presence and support of members he can count on.

Republicans are also looking to push through a massive partisan spending package through reconciliation, a process that allows a party with unified control of Washington to bypass the Senate filibuster, and an Iran supplemental funding package.

“I think that’ll be the real test, is when we have something that’s of significance that people – when they’d need to be here,” Burlison said.

Johnson has previously told reporters in hallway and TV interviews before that members “better be here,” according to a quote shared by his team.

“I mean, I’ve told everybody, and not in jest, I said, ‘No adventure sports, no risk-taking, take your vitamins and stay healthy and be here.’ I mean, this is what we’re going to be doing all year long,” Johnson said.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said, “We need everybody in attendance if we’re going to pass something. That’s truly a priority. And I think…that’s exactly what the speaker’s speaking to is that we’ve got to have everybody here.”

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