A new agreement has been reached between hard-line conservatives and House Republicans, aiming to stabilize the chamber’s leadership. The deal includes raising the number of members required to initiate a vote to remove the Speaker, along with adjustments to House rules. This shift may help ensure Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) retains his position after January.
The agreement, confirmed by multiple sources, changes the House’s “motion to vacate” rule. Under the new terms, the threshold to trigger a vote to remove the Speaker will rise from one to nine members, effectively reducing the risk of a repeat of the removal of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). That event has influenced the way Johnson approaches his leadership role.
The agreement alters House rules, reducing the likelihood of another leadership removal like McCarthy’s
A key part of the deal is that hard-line conservatives, who had pushed for keeping the single-member threshold, will now accept the change. In exchange, members from the Main Street Caucus will abandon their proposed amendments that sought to penalize those who defy the party line.
These penalties included removing members from committees if they supported a motion to vacate, a provision opposed by many, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who called them a “nonstarter.” The deal was negotiated shortly before Republicans were set to vote on a Speaker nominee, with President-elect Trump throwing his support behind Johnson.
Representatives from the Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus, including Johnson, played a central role in securing the agreement. Johnson met with his allies in the Freedom Caucus just before Wednesday’s internal election, according to sources.
At one point, many conservatives, particularly those in the Freedom Caucus, were prepared to oppose Johnson’s nomination. They had planned to nominate a protest candidate and force a recorded vote. However, with the deal in place, Johnson was nominated for Speaker by a unanimous voice vote, marking a clear victory for his leadership.
With the new Congress convening in January, Johnson will need near-total support to secure his position. He appeared alongside Main Street Caucus Chair Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) to publicly confirm the deal.
Dusty Johnson explained that Harris had reached out to him earlier to facilitate the agreement, which raises the “motion to vacate” threshold to nine. Harris also pointed out that Trump had emphasized Republican unity earlier in the day, which played a role in solidifying the deal.
Despite the deal, some lawmakers remain cautious. Rep. Chip Roy stressed that more work remains to be done and noted that while the retaliatory amendments had been set aside for now, further discussions would take place before January.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) added that negotiations would continue into the new year. Some lawmakers who had pushed for the “accountability amendments” argued that the chaos within the GOP over the past two years, including the standstill following McCarthy’s removal, had damaged the party’s ability to effectively govern and hindered Trump’s agenda.
The hard-liners who opposed the amendments argued that such punishments would undermine their goal of decentralizing power and prevent members from representing their constituents. An internal memo circulated among conservatives before the deal was reached emphasized the need for unity and warned that the proposed rules could deepen divisions at a time when the GOP needed to present a united front.
Among the proposed changes was an amendment from Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) that would have removed members from committees for supporting a “motion to vacate” the Speaker. Van Orden, who had pushed for unity and clear rules, stated that Republicans must act decisively to fulfill their mandate from the American people.
Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) also proposed amendments that would penalize members for voting against the party’s procedural rules, a move that had caused serious delays in McCarthy’s election as Speaker in 2023. These proposed changes were also rejected in the final agreement.
Speaker Johnson had voiced opposition to such punitive measures but made it clear that the decision on rules would be left to the House GOP. This position initially led to some tension but finally contributed to the successful negotiation of the deal, ensuring his unanimous nomination as Speaker.
