House GOP rule proposals spotlight battle between conservatives and leadership allies

House Republicans are primed for a nasty fight over their internal rules this week.

A review of the 20 amendments submitted to the current rules, first reported by POLITICO, indicate an ongoing clash between conservatives, who are looking to strip more power from leadership, and other members who want to see disruptive GOP lawmakers punished.

The amendments do not include proposed changes to the rules governing how to oust a speaker, known as a motion to vacate, though that doesn’t mean that fight is over. Currently, one member can trigger a vote to boot a speaker, and leadership and many House Republicans want to raise that threshold. Debate over that rule will likely reignite before the full House speakership vote on Jan. 3, when the party is slated to deliberate broader House rules after selecting a speaker.

And though the motion to vacate rules aren’t up for a vote just yet, several proposed amendments are directly related to it. Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) sought to prevent another speaker ouster and subsequent gavel fight showdown with their amendments.

Huizenga proposed kicking members off committees for at least 90 days if they oppose a speaker on the House floor who received a two-thirds majority nomination vote from the conference. And Van Orden similarly pushed for members to lose their committee assignments if a group of members move to vacate the speaker against the wishes of the majority of their party — as was the case for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.

Additionally, Huizenga and Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) submitted amendments that would punish lawmakers who block GOP-backed legislation from a floor passage vote, known as voting against the rule. Huizenga’s amendment floated an unspecified “penalty,” while LaLota’s would kick members who opposed rule votes off their committees.

From the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus side, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) sought to clarify the authority of a speaker pro tempore, the person who leads the House temporarily in the event of another speaker vacancy. His amendment, which says the position can only aid in the election of a new speaker, aims to settle discussions over what powers Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) had when he filled the role following the termination of McCarthy’s speakership.

Others like Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Andy Harris (R-Md.), the current chair of the House Freedom Caucus, aimed to curb the power of the GOP steering committee, a leadership-aligned panel that largely decides who will serve as panel chairs and membership.

Harris proposed other amendments aimed at limiting how long Republicans could serve in certain leadership positions. One says a member who is a committee head of one panel cannot immediately become chair or ranking member of another committee if they’ve already hit the term limit of three consecutive terms. Another seeks to limit any members from serving on the Steering Committee for more than three consecutive terms. A third would block members from serving on both a committee and on the Steering panel at the same time, which several have in the past.

Other notable amendment proposals:

Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) is proposing a rule that would create a new GOP leadership position known as the chair of the debt commission.
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) wants to block Republicans from voting on their GOP leadership lineup before setting their internal rules. (In other words, allowing lawmakers to decide whether they like the rules package before they give their blessing to a speaker nominee.)
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is trying to create more time for members to speak at the microphones during private GOP conference meetings, putting forward an amendment that would curb how much time GOP leadership spends updating its members. Roy also floated a new rule that would allow members to call for votes in a conference meeting to determine if a bill had the support of the majority of Republicans.
Reps. Cloud and Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) put forward a proposal that would limit the price tag of a bill that can pass under suspension — a procedural tool GOP leadership had used to bypass hard-liners when they opposed spending bills — at $100 million. For Palmer, the exception was if the bill included offsets. 

House Republicans will meet Thursday morning for a forum to discuss rule amendments and will convene again that afternoon to vote on their conference rules.