2023–24 U.S. House legislative coalition

2023-24 House legislative coalition
Informal leaders	House Speaker Mike Johnson House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
Founded	2023 (2023)
Ideology	Moderate politics Shutdown prevention
Political position	Big-tent
Politics of the United States Political parties Elections

Beginning in 2023, during the 118th United States Congress, some members of the House Republican Conference and House Democratic Caucus formed an informal legislative coalition to pass major bills in the United States House of Representatives.

While Republicans won a majority of seats during the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections, beginning in June 2023, members of the Republican far-right Freedom Caucus began blocking Republican proposed bills in the House culminating in the removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House in 2023.

Following the eventual election of Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House, Republicans were forced into a coalition with Democrats in order to pass major legislation with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries playing a powerful role in the chamber. Some reports began describing Jeffries as the de-facto or shadow Speaker of the House.

Such a coalition was highly volatile, without a clearly defined membership, although it always amounted to over two-thirds of House members. In practice, rather than one single continuing coalition, there were several different coalitions between Republicans and Democrats formed on a day-to-day basis depending on the bills voted upon. What led most publications (such as Axios and the Wall Street Journal) to consider this situation different from simple bipartisan votes was its systematic nature: Republican leadership employed it to sideline dissenters and hardliners from their own party on virtually all important, "must-pass" bills.

Background

Election of Speaker McCarthy

Main article: January 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election

The 2022 midterm elections resulted in a narrow Democratic Party majority in the U.S. Senate and a narrow majority for the Republican Party in the House of Representatives. The far-right Freedom Caucus congressional caucus secured 45 House seats. Kevin McCarthy, leader of the House Republican Conference, was elected speaker of the House following several days after an unprecedented 15 ballots following opposition in the Republican caucus, primarily led by members of the Freedom Caucus. In order to secure the speakership, McCarthy was forced to make concessions to opponents including allowing any single member of Congress to trigger a motion to vacate. Members of the Freedom Caucus were also given influential committee positions, including three on the Rules Committee. With four Democrats as the minority members, that meant any bill that the Freedom Caucus strongly opposed could be blocked from advancement to the floor, as three votes against would result in a 7-7 tie and a defeated motion.

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Main article: 2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis

During the 2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis, McCarthy was forced to negotiate with Democratic President Joe Biden in order to resolve the crisis with a bill that would pass the Democrat controlled United States Senate and would not be vetoed. Economists said it would be "catastrophic" if the debt ceiling was not raised. The negotiations resulted in the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which capped discretionary spending in 2024 and 2025 and increased work requirements for SNAP recipients. The deal angered members of the House Freedom Caucus who believed that the bill was not conservative enough. Two members of the Freedom Caucus voted with Democrats in an attempt to block the act in the Rules Committee, but failed by one vote.

On May 31, in a procedural rule vote on the house floor, which historically is supported by all members of the majority party and opposed by minority members regardless of their feelings on the underlying bill, 29 conservative Republicans opposed the vote. In order to ensure the bill's passage, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held up a green card to alert Democrats they could vote in favor of the measure, resulting in 52 Democrats showing their support for support the procedural vote. A majority of both the Republican and Democratic parties voted for the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, but more Republicans (71) voted against the bill than Democrats (46).

Continued McCarthy–Freedom Caucus conflict

Following the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 11 angry members of the Freedom Caucus voted with Democrats to block a procedural rules vote on a Republican bill that would hinder the federal government's ability to regulate gas stoves. Freedom Caucus members said the vote was a protest of McCarthy's handling of the debt-ceiling crisis. On June 12, 2023, the Freedom Caucus and McCarthy reached an agreement that resulted in the Freedom Caucus not blocking procedural votes in exchange for conservative legislation being brought to the floor.

Despite the earlier agreement, in September 2023, Freedom Caucus members once again began joining with Democrats to block procedural rule votes. On September 19 and September 21, five members of the Freedom Caucus, voted with Democrats to block a vote on a military funding bill. The Freedom Caucus was angry about a proposed continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown that they argued did not do enough to cut spending. On September 29, twenty-one Freedom Caucus members joined with Democrats to block a continuing resolution which included spending cuts and immigration restrictions. Freedom Caucus members who voted against the resolution said they would not support a temporary spending bill under any circumstance. In order to avert a government shutdown, McCarthy struck a deal with Democrats for a bipartisan continuing resolution that kept funding at 2023 levels but did not include aid to Ukraine. The bill was passed under a suspension of the rules, which allowed McCarthy to bypass procedural rules votes but required a two-thirds majority to pass the resolution. The bill passed in a 335–91 vote, with 90 Republicans and 1 Democrat voting against it.

Removal of Speaker McCarthy

Main articles: Removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House and October 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election

Angry over the passing of a bipartisan continuing resolution, Republican representative Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate, forcing a vote on McCarthy's removal within two legislative days. 8 Republicans joined every Democrat to oust McCarthy from the speakership. Republicans took 22 days to replace McCarthy. Freedom Caucus members refused to support the conference nominations of Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer. While moderate Republicans refused to support the conference nomination of Jim Jordan. Eventually, the Republican conference unanimously elected Mike Johnson Speaker of the House.

Government by coalition

Following the vote to oust Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, Jeffries penned an opinion column in the Washington Post calling for a “bipartisan governing coalition” in which he pitched a path for consensus legislation that could not be blocked by a “small handful of extreme members” when large swaths of the House supported a bill. While a coalition was never officially formed, Democrats became crucial votes for several bills between the end of 2023 and September 2024.

End of 2023: continuing resolution and NDAA

In order to again avert a government shutdown, Mike Johnson was forced to use a suspension of the rules to pass a continuing resolution on November 14, 2023. 93 Republicans and 2 Democrats voted against the resolution. The continuing resolution once again angered Freedom Caucus members. On November 15, 19 Freedom Caucus members joined with Democrats to block a rule vote on a bill funding the Justice Department.

In December 2023, Jeffries and the House Democratic Caucus provided the majority of the votes, 163-147, to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, allowing it to pass under suspension of the rules. The bill included a 5.2% pay increase for servicemembers and civilian employees.

January 2024 spending deal

On January 7, 2024, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Johnson agreed to a $1.59 trillion topline spending deal. The topline spending levels agreed for 2024 that was not substantially different from the deal McCarthy and President Biden had negotiated. The agreement was met by outrage by the House Freedom Caucus, essentially ensuring Democrats would be required to join Republicans to pass a finalized spending bill in the House. On January 10, twelve Freedom Caucus members joined Democrats to block a rule vote on an unrelated bill about electric cars in protest of the spending deal.

A "rule vote" is, essentially, a vote on a resolution (called a "special rule" or, more simply, "rule") providing that the House will consider a certain bill, as well as limiting the length of debate and the number of amendments allowed. It is virtually impossible to allow consideration of a bill without the passage of a rule. Conventionally, the majority party unanimously backs rules, while the minority party unanimously opposes them. Democrats decided they would continue to follow the convention and continue to vote against rules.

This, combined with the House Freedom Caucus' determination to also oppose rules on any bill they did not support, Speaker Johnson was forced to rely on suspension of rules: this special procedure allowed the immediate passage of a legislative proposal without the need for a rule vote, but required the support of two-thirds of the House. Democrats opted to vote in favor of suspension of the rules for budget legislation.

On January 18, the House passed another continuing resolution through a suspension of the rules. 106 Republicans and two Democrats voted against it. Later in January, the House passed a bipartisan Tax Bill through a suspension of the rules. Despite its bipartisan passage, the bill was opposed by both Progressive Democrats and the House Freedom Caucus.

March 2024 minibuses

On March 6, the House passed a $459 billion "minibus" spending package containing six of the twelve appropriations bills. The bill funded the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Energy, Interior, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development. It also provided appropriations for the EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and other military construction. Jeffries took the lead role in the negotiations and applauded Democrats for ensuring the “WIC” program — food assistance for women, infants and children — remained untouched, as well as providing rental assistance, a pay raise for firefighters and investments in new air traffic controllers. After the vote, Jeffries stated, “Once again, Democrats protected the American people and delivered the overwhelming majority of votes necessary to get things done.”

On March 22, the House passed a second $741 billion minibus to fund the remaining departments; a majority of Republicans voted against the package. Jeffries touted the work of a bipartisan coalition, saying: “[W]e’ve said from the very beginning of this Congress, as Democrats, that we will find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues on any issue, whenever and wherever possible, as long as it will make life better for the American people. That’s exactly what House Democrats continue to do”. As part of negotiations to avert a government shutdown, Jeffries and Democrats helped secure at least one project as an earmark for every Democratic member. According to CNN, most members saw their share of earmarks go up $616,279 over what had passed in committee. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, said, “He negotiated. He got what we needed to have”.

April 2024 FISA reauthorization and foreign aid

On April 12, the House passed a modified surveillance bill, which reauthorized the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The final vote was 273-147 with Democrats delivering votes to protect U.S. national security under Section 702. President Biden signed the legislation hours before the program expired.

On April 20, over two months after the Senate had passed a funding bill for Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, Jeffries negotiated the legislative path for the bill and delivered a majority of Democratic votes to pass a legislative package providing aid to the three countries in separate bills, each of which passed Congress with bipartisan support and large majorities and was signed into law by President Biden. The bill was voted against in committee by three Freedom Caucus members - enough to prevent it progressing under normal circumstances - but all Democrats voted for it. The legislative package also included a House-passed bill to force the app TikTok to divest from its Chinese Communist Party-owned parent company, ByteDance, as well as the REPO for Ukrainians Act, a measure that allows the U.S. government to fund the Ukrainian war effort with assets seized from Russian oligarchs. During debate on the bill, Jeffries emphasized the role of the bipartisan legislative coalition by stating, “We have a responsibility, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans to defend democracy wherever it is at risk”. In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes following the major vote, Jeffries added “effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority."

May 2024 FAA reauthorization

On May 15, the House voted to pass the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which included programs to improve safety and protect consumers. More Democrats than Republicans voted for the five-year reauthorization, 195-192. Following the votes to stave off a federal government shutdown and send foreign assistance abroad, the Associated Press said that Jeffries, as the minority leader, “might very well be the most powerful person in Congress right now.”

Motion to vacate Mike Johnson's speakership

As the House continued to pass a series of key legislative victories that were supported by a majority of Democrats, far right Republicans continued to threaten to trigger another motion to vacate the chair, this time with Speaker Johnson targeted. However, Jeffries hinted at providing a lifeline to Speaker Mike Johnson in an interview with the New York Times.

On May 8, 2024, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (who had strongly opposed Johnson's resolve to provide Ukraine with further aid) introduced the motion to vacate Johnson's speakership on the floor, forcing a vote on it within two legislative days. However, citing Johnson’s decision to hold a vote on the legislative package to aid allies abroad, Jeffries and Democratic leaders said Democrats would “vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair”.

The House voted to table (kill) the motion by a vote of 359-43, allowing Johnson to remain speaker. 196 Republicans and 163 Democrats voted to table the motion; 11 Republicans and 32 Democrats voted against tabling the motion. The Democrats who supported Johnson claimed they did so because of the vital role he had played in providing funding for the federal government and for Ukraine. Greene did not rule out forcing another vote to oust Johnson.The Wall Street Journal wrote that Jeffries “flexes power as Mike Johnson flounders”.

September 2024 continuing resolution

In September 2024, Speaker Johnson introduced a continuing resolution which renewed government funding at the previous year's levels for six more months, with a voting reform measure which would have made it compulsory to show proof of citizenship before voting in Federal elections. However, the resolution was voted down by a coalition of 14 conservative Republicans, who opposed the spending cuts, and 206 Democrats, who opposed the citizenship law. Afterwards, Speaker Johnson put forwards a clean three-months continuing resolution, which was opposed by 82 Republicans but supported unanimously by Democrats.

December 2024 continuing resolution

On December 17, 2024, leadership from the two parties reached an agreement on further short-term government expenditures, unveiling a bill that would have extended the previous continuing resolution's deadline to March 14, 2025, while also funding and renewing several federal programs.

On December 19, President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement demanding the removal of additional spending (except for disaster relief and aid to farmers) and the suspension of the debt ceiling (due to be reached in 2025).

Republicans quickly remodeled the bill to that effect and put it up for a vote, but not to avail: the House rejected the proposal by a vote of 174 to 235, with all but three Democrats joining 38 conservative Republicans, in voting against it. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized Republicans for abandoning the bipartisan deal at the very last moment. At the same time, conservative Republicans lamented the presence of new spending and the rise in the debt ceiling.

One day after the rejection of the second bill, Republicans released a third remodeled bill essentially the same as the second but without the suspension of the debt ceiling as proposed by Donald Trump. Republicans also announced that has reached a handshake agreement with President-elect Trump to cut $2.5 trillion in government spending in exchange for a $1.5 trillion debt ceiling hike. The agreement was not part of the third proposal and was not voted on by the House.

The bill was passed in a 366–34 vote, with one member voting present. All but one Democrat voted for the bill, while 34 Republicans voted against it.

See also

• Problem Solvers Caucus
• Caucuses of the United States Congress
• No Labels
• Bipartisan Policy Center