“Speaker Mike Johnson signaled to an audience at his high-dollar donor retreat that he’d support kicking members off their committees if they oppose party-line procedural votes,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Republicans voting against the rule has been a huge problem for Johnson and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy this Congress. With the GOP’s razor-thin margin of control, Republicans can only afford a handful of defections on rule votes, which are typically passed on a partisan basis. It was once unthinkable to have a member of the majority vote against a rule. But hardline Republicans — even those serving on the Rules Committee — have made it practice. Control of the Rules Committee is how the speaker controls the floor.”
