House Republicans on Monday expressed their displeasure with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., after he delayed votes on legislation involving government surveillance and funding.
The House pushed votes to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on the Federal Aviation Agency, and on government funding. Some Republicans pointed to Johnson’s about-face, including on a short-term FISA extension in the National Defense Authorization Act, which he had previously opposed.
“It's upsetting to me,” Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., told the Washington Examiner. “You can see the kind of trickery of D.C. where they try and attach FISA to the NDAA. That way, they can put you into that situation where if you vote against it, Oh, you hate our military. Or if you vote for it, Oh, you hate individual privacy. So these [are] poison pills.”
Mills added that House legislators must “stay up here and get things done” and “not just take an early recess or a break.”
House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., hit out at how House leaders have handled legislation on government funding and other vital issues. He noted that the House failed to pass appropriations bills in the weeks after passing a two-part continuing resolution, which leaves legislators, who return on Jan. 9, only a few days to pass a series of appropriations bills before they expire on Jan. 19.
“We have had made very little effort to pass appropriations bills ever since the CR [continuing resolution] was passed, so I’m disappointed about that,” Good told the Examiner. “I don't know what the plan is come Jan. 19. I don't know what our commitment is to reduce spending year over year, which we absolutely must do, no matter how modest that might be.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a member of the Freedom Caucus, said that Johnson “needs to acclimate.”
Donalds added, “I think — I’m just going to be blunt — I think some of his staff is not looking at this thing the way it should be. And I’ve voiced my disagreements with staff on some of these issues.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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