Republican Storms Out of Mike Johnson Meeting

Representative Warren Davidson stormed out of a House GOP meeting led by Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday as the leader of the Republican conference continues to face blowback from members of his party over his tentative spending deal.

As he left the morning meeting early, Davidson told reporters on the Hill, "I'm not gonna sit in there and listen to that drivel because he has no plans to do anything except surrender."

Newsweek reached out to Davidson and Johnson via email for comment.

Johnson, who has held the gavel for less than three months, has earned the ire of many House Republicans over the tentative agreement he reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over the weekend. Despite the cuts that the Speaker negotiated, the proposed nearly $1.66 trillion budget for the 2024 fiscal year reflects the deal struck by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year—the same deal that ultimately led to his ousting in the fall.

Johnson has stressed that he wants to avoid a government shutdown as the deadline looms less than two weeks away, but his critics have argued that the topline figure undercuts conservative objectives and have openly threatened to introduce another motion to vacate that could remove Johnson from his post.

Asked whether Johnson should lose his job over the spending deal, Davidson said, "He should have never been hired."

The comments suggest that Johnson has fallen short of the expectations that his Republican colleges had for his speakership just two and half months ago. In late October, Johnson was able to unite the increasingly divided House GOP and win the gavel with unanimous support from his party after the House went 21 days without a Speaker.

Davidson, who had been a staunch supporter of Representative Jim Jordan's speakership bid, previously expressed hope for Johnson's tenure.

"As I've said, whoever can unite House Republicans around a shared mission will emerge as the next Speaker. Mike unites our conference and his conservative leadership will bring a challenge to the status quo," Warren said in an October 25 statement after the vote to elect Johnson as Speaker. "Our conference is back on offense. I'm honored to serve with Speaker Mike Johnson."

But the Ohio Republican struck a different tone on Wednesday as he continued to speak out against Johnson's deal, arguing that the entire Republican Party would be more willing to speak out about their opposition to the agreement if it was not being spearheaded by one of their own.

"If Hakeem Jeffries announced this deal with Schumer, Republicans would be united in opposition," Davidson wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "It spends more than the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act agreed to spend. And, it fails to deliver ANYTHING on @HouseGOP policy promises."

Johnson acknowledged the Republican Party's shrinking power in the House during Wednesday's meeting.

Although the GOP began the 118th Congress with a slim majority in the House, the razor-thin advantage has been whittled down by McCarthy's departure, which took effect December 31, and last month's expulsion of Representative George Santos. It is expected to shrink again later this month when Representative Bill Johnson resigns to become the new head of Youngstown State University. After January 21, House Republicans can afford to lose no more than two members of their conference for a vote to pass.

"You can see the number on the right going down," Johnson told his colleagues on Wednesday, according to Politico's Olivia Beavers.