House Leadership Relied on Democrats, and Aggravated Their Own Members, to Move on Foreign Aid

“It was a drunken walk to a very good conclusion,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry.

Mike Johnson
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

More than four dozen House Republicans voted against a procedural step forward on Speaker Mike Johnson’s national security package, leaving the party’s bitter fractures more transparent by the minute.

“I don’t even need to offer an opinion, I think that’s obvious,” said Rep. Dan Meuser, when asked whether Johnson’s speakership is in peril.

Meuser joined the majority of the conference in voting to advance the bills, along with a majority of Democrats. Fifty-five Republicans and 39 Democrats voted against the rule, which now sets up Saturday votes on separate foreign aid bills that will be recombined in a single bill for the Senate.