House GOP leadership rejects 6 of 8 rules changes sought by conservatives, with more pending

The House Republican leadership has rejected 6 out of the 8 House Freedom Caucus rules changes that have been considered so far, Just the News has learned.

The amendments that failed included a requirement that spending bills must pass before the fiscal year officially begins on Oct. 1. If not, other legislation would not be able to be considered on the floor. An amendment that would ensure all members of the Republican Conference are able to participate in conference meetings was rejected, and a rule change to allow one member, with the support of 25 others, to request having one Republican staffer admitted to conference meetings also failed.

In addition, House GOP leadership rejected an amendment that would have allowed committee members to elect their own chairmen. 

The two amendments that passed were related to prohibiting steering committee members, except elected leadership, from serving on the executive committee of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and reopening House grounds to the public again after access was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

According to a GOP aide, there are many other rules changes proposed by the House Freedom Caucus that are supposed to be formally considered when members return to Capitol Hill after their Thanksgiving break. 

The outstanding amendments still up for consideration include the reimplementation of the Holman Rule, which would strip the salaries of federal employees who are not cooperating with existing law.

"Democrats eliminated the 'Holman Rule' when they took the House because it allows members to make targeted spending cuts in appropriations funding bills by slashing the funding of specific federal programs or cutting the salaries of individual federal employees (e.g., Dr. Anthony Fauci)," according to an official House Freedom Caucus summary of their desired rules changes.

Conservatives such as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have suggested using the Holman Rule to defund Jack Smith, the special counsel that the Department of Justice appointed this week to investigate former President Donald Trump, who has announced a 2024 presidential run.

A rule amendment ending the ability to "automatically suspend the debt ceiling without a standalone vote" whenever the House adopts a budget resolution and another banning earmarks are also set to be considered. Earmarks are usually targeted pet projects, which are often slipped inside large spending bills.

As the rules change process continues to unfold, McCarthy is losing votes from some conservatives in the House GOP conference. So far, 5 Republican House members have indicated that they don't plan on supporting him for speaker.