Luna-led rebellion blocks House vote, sends lawmakers home early

Retirements, primary losses sap GOP attendance with midterms approaching

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are confronting an increasingly dysfunctional legislative landscape as a confluence of retirements, primary defeats, illness, and independence among departing members threatens the party’s ability to pass bills through its narrow majority.

GOP leaders are facing what some lawmakers and aides are privately calling a “zombie Congress,” according to a report from The Wall Street Journal published Sunday. The term reflects a growing concern that members who are leaving office, who lost primaries, or who feel no stake in the institution’s work will lose motivation to show up for votes or will break with party leadership when they do.

“If you’re not at least a little bit frustrated right now, then I question your, maybe your sanity. Nobody signed up for this,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R., Ark.). He also said he worried that problems passing bills could hurt Republican chances in the midterms. “Right now it’s almost like shooting ourselves in the foot,” Womack said.

The party holds a 219-212 House majority with one independent who caucuses with the GOP, a margin that leaves almost no room for absences. Seven Republicans missed a key procedural vote last week, according to the Journal.

Last week, holdouts led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R., Fla.) swelled to more than a dozen on a routine party-line procedural vote, stopping action on the House floor and prompting Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) to send members home early for the Fourth of July holiday. “I don’t care who in this chamber hates me for it,” Luna said on social media.

About three dozen House Republicans are not returning next term, according to lawmakers. Roughly half are leaving to seek other offices — many are still campaigning, while several have already lost. Others are retiring outright.

“I promise to be more of a menace than ever. This is nothing holding me back,” said Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) after she was defeated in her bid for governor, according to the Journal.

“This entire Congress has been about three or four, maybe one, or no vote margin, and then it’s exacerbated by the fact that the people who can vote are not here,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.), who is running for Senate. In an election year, he said, people who lose “are going to be less enthusiastic about coming back.”

Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas), who lost his bid for state attorney general, said the White House’s posture has contributed to the problem.

“It’s safe to say the White House has created an environment where a lot of people are going to feel free to vote their conscience without any question,” Roy said. “For people who have always done that, it’s easy. For those who haven’t, they might feel a little more free.”

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration looks forward to continuing its “close relationships” with GOP leaders and lawmakers and “fulfilling President Trump’s priorities that Americans elected him to enact.”

Some concerns about attendance stem from health issues. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R., N.J.) missed nearly four months of votes after he was hospitalized for depression, returning to Congress on June 30. Rep. Neal Dunn (R., Fla.) has also missed multiple votes due to illness, according to the Journal.

GOP leaders have repeatedly raised attendance issues in closed-door meetings and public statements. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) told reporters last month that the conference must work through its challenges. “We always have to deal with absences, a narrow majority, that’s life in the big city, and you know we’re just going to keep working through, but you know we’re going to get our work done,” Scalise said.

Johnson said he has tried to be “very direct” with members who are considering leaving before the end of the term. “We’ve had a lot of those conversations. I want everybody to be able to take whatever opportunity presents itself, but the timing is really important,” he said in a recent interview.

The drama and schedule changes have also worn on lawmakers who do show up. Colleagues throwing out last-minute demands “curbs people’s enthusiasm and willingness to go and miss those important family things” and other events in their home districts, said Rep. Bill Huizenga (R., Mich.). “That sort of every-man-or-woman-out-for-themselves attitude has been growing, and that means that we’re less likely to be coming together and thinking like a team.”

MSI previously reported that House GOP leaders halted votes and sent members home on June 30 after a week of stalled action on the floor, part of a broader pattern of legislative dysfunction described in a related article.

Congress also faces a September deadline to pass bipartisan spending bills and avoid another government shutdown, along with other priorities including the farm bill and the defense-policy proposal. Johnson and President Trump are pushing for a third party-line budget reconciliation bill, on the heels of Trump’s tax law last year and $70 billion for immigration enforcement in June. That measure could include a big defense-spending boost, bypassing Democratic objections — but Republican absences or defections could doom the effort, according to lawmakers.

Rep. Jason Smith (R., Mo.), who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, said the challenge is clear. “It is going to be harder to get votes,” Smith said.