The name of the legislation — the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — might sound bureaucratic, but as regular readers know, it’s actually a massive, annual defense spending bill that funds the United States military.
But that’s not all it does. The NDAA also guides Pentagon policy, touching on everything from troop levels to weapons systems to military personnel policy. It takes months to negotiate the details, and by some measures, as much legislative work goes into this one package as any other bill in a typical Congress.
This year, House Republican leaders loaded up the NDAA with culture-war provisions intended to make far-right members happy. The bill then went to a conference committee, allowing members from both chambers to craft a compromise package that will get up-or-down votes in the House and Senate.
It wasn’t long before GOP members noticed that the elements that they liked most about the House’s version were, predictably, scuttled during the negotiations. What’s more, the same bill extends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), including Section 702, which is used for warrantless surveillance of some foreigners.
Though House Speaker Mike Johnson’s position on the bill has been all over the place, the Louisiana Republican eventually endorsed the bicameral agreement. As The Messenger reported, the members who were placated in the spring now feel betrayed.
Some hardliners are warning that the capitulations House Speaker Mike Johnson made in the bipartisan negotiations with other congressional leaders are adding to mounting evidence that nothing is improving for Republicans under his leadership. “That’s a full on strike two and a half — if not more,” House Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy told The Messenger, alluding to baseball’s three strikes and you’re out.
Asked about possible consequences for Johnson, Roy added, “We’ll see.”
The Texan wasn’t the only GOP member who was publicly displeased. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia described the final version of the NDAA as “outrageous,” and accused party leaders of being responsible for “a total sell-out of conservative principles.” Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri said, in reference to the House speaker, “I’ve not given up hope on him. But right now, it looks pretty bleak.”
Though it’d be an exaggeration to say that Johnson is hearing the kind of chatter that precipitated then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, it’s nevertheless true that the volume of the intra-party rhetoric directed at the Louisianan is getting louder. The New York Times went so far as to say Johnson is facing a “political crisis“ of sorts in light of the criticisms he’s now facing from his own members.
Last week, for example, when far-right members weren’t complaining about the NDAA, they were also complaining about the possibility of Johnson supporting military aid for Ukraine.
The week before that, the House speaker vacillated on former Rep. George Santos’ fate, leading to some additional criticisms from Johnson’s own members. Republican Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas told Politico he was “very disappointed” with how party leaders handled the matter. Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio said he was “let down” by the GOP leadership. The same week, Miller also said of Johnson, “He continues to play games.” The Ohioan added that he believes the House speaker’s lack of core principles “is disgusting.” Also last month, Johnson backed a spending package to prevent a government shutdown that was awfully similar to the one that led McCarthy to lose his gavel. It led Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota to say, “It’s the same clown car with a different driver.” Republican Rep. Bob Good of Virginia added a day earlier, “We are not going to continue to do business as usual here in Washington.” Again, I don’t believe Johnson is at any risk of being stripped of his gavel, at least not anytime soon. But roughly seven weeks into his tenure, the House speaker is still learning the job, and he’s apparently failing to impress many of his own members.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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