Conservatives surprise McCarthy with floor rebellion over debt deal anger

Politics

A band of House conservatives mounted an extraordinary rebellion against their own party leaders on Tuesday, venting their angst over the recent debt limit fight with a surprise protest that derailed the chamber floor.

Republican leaders spent nearly an hour working to resolve the standoff with their right flank, which disrupted the party’s plans to pass legislation protecting gas stoves from potential government bans. But ultimately, roughly a dozen conservatives — most of them members of the Trump-aligned House Freedom Caucus — voted against moving forward on a bill they support.

The move was entirely unexpected by senior Republicans, according to two people close to leadership. And some GOP lawmakers feared it might be just the beginning of a conservative drive to undercut Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s team unless, as some of Tuesday’s rebels put it, McCarthy keeps to promises he made in order to win the House’s top gavel in January.