HOUSE RULES IS READY TO RUMBLE — When we said buckle up, the House Rules Committee could be rowdy this Congress, we meant it. The debt limit deal, struck over the weekend by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Joe Biden, will face its first test today. Leaders are aiming for passage on the floor Wednesday, but some Republicans may try to block the 99-page package from making it to the floor. Often referred to as “The Speaker’s Committee” for being packed with leadership allies, McCarthy has some tough critics on the House Rules Committee as the result of his grand bargain to win the speaker’s gavel back in January. The panel, split 9-4 in favor of Republicans, will meet at 3 p.m. this afternoon to set the stage for floor consideration of the debt limit measure. It might be one to watch. Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) are hard line conservatives from the House Freedom Caucus and have already pledged to vote against the bill. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is a libertarian and far from a leadership lackey. If they’re in agreement on the House Rules Committee, they can functionally block legislation from getting to the floor. Roy remembers a deal: Roy (R-Texas), one of the hard line conservatives on Rules, asserted Monday that there was an “explicit” deal made with McCarthy back in January that “nothing would pass Rules Committee without AT LEAST 7 GOP votes - AND that the Committee would not allow reporting out rules without unanimous Republican votes.” That’s a deal that was never made public. And there’s nothing in the rules governing the House Rules panel (meta, we know, stick with us) that backs up that threshold. Was it a handshake deal or part of the elusive three-page “addendum” that never emerged? “If those conversations took place, the rest of the conference was unaware of them. And frankly, I doubt that,” Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) told reporters at the Capitol on Monday. “I'm a rules guy. When somebody tells me something has to happen a certain way, the first thing I do is get out the rule book,” Johnson said. “And when I checked, there wasn't a rule that something has to come out of the Rules Committee unanimously.” Check the tape: Your Huddle host has audio from back on Jan. 25 when Massie was freshly named to the Rules panel, where he said that he would “be reluctant to try to use the Rules Committee to achieve a legislative outcome, particularly if it doesn't represent a large majority of our caucus” and that he didn’t plan to use his position on House Rules “to hold somebody hostage or to hold legislation hostage.” That may be put to a test today. Massie’s own proposal – compelling Congress to pass a dozen appropriations bills on time, or risk a funding cut – made it into the bill. House Republicans took a victory lap in a call with reporters Monday afternoon, praising the top two Republican negotiators – Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Garret Graves (R-La.) – for reaching a deal with the White House. GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) emphasized repeatedly that all factions of the Republican party were represented on the call – but one awkward moment came when The Hill’s Emily Brooks asked the hosts of the call to respond to Roy’s tweet about the Rules committee. Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) was the only one to respond and say: “l’ll just say succinctly that we control the Rules Committee, and we would like our rules to come to the floor with a majority of Republican votes.” Beyond Rules: Beyond Roy and Norman, a growing roster of Republicans are pledging to vote against the McCarthy-Biden debt limit deal. Here’s a rough roundup of those who have said they’ll be voting no: Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Bob Good (R-Va.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas). Beyond those members, nearly a dozen other House Republicans have publicly expressed major disappointment in the deal but have stopped short of promising a “no” vote. House Republicans will meet as a conference tonight after the first votes of the week. The briefings will continue until morale improves: The White House held multiple briefings on the debt limit package on Monday and more are scheduled today on the energy provisions, work requirement changes and funding levels. Democrats from both chambers can tune in on Zoom this afternoon to hear from John Podesta, a key Biden advisor on clean energy, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Aviva Arnon-Dine and Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young. The trio, plus Steve Ricchetti, will be on the Hill first thing Wednesday to brief the House Democratic Caucus in person. Democrats have their own potential defectors to tend to. Progressives have expressed frustration over new work requirements in two government assistance programs along with the spending caps.
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