House Fails to Pass Legislative Branch Spending Bill After 10 Republicans Vote Against It

Ten Republicans broke with their House leadership to defeat a $7 billion bill to fund the legislative branch.

The U.S. Capitol building dome in Washington on June 20, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives on June 11 failed to pass a $7 billion spending measure to fund part of the government for fiscal year 2025 after a number of Republican members voted against it, in a setback for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leadership.

The Republican-backed Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of 2025 failed by a vote of 205–213.

Among the 10 Republican nay votes were Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Bob Good (R-Va.), and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), who are among a group of members who have dissented from House Republican leadership in the past, including voting to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from office in 2023.

Other Republicans who voted against the bill were Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), and Keith Self (R-Texas).

“More spending. It was a 5.6 percent increase. I voted no on that because we killed all the cost-saving amendments. Everybody’s trying to protect their little fiefdoms, it seems,” Mr. Burchett said in a video posted on social media after the vote.

“The country is approaching $35 trillion in debt!” Mr. Gaetz wrote on social media platform X. “I voted against the legislative appropriations bill because we shouldn’t proceed by increasing spending within our own house. We should be cutting spending for every entity in government and should be leading by example.”

In response to The Epoch Times’ questions about why the bill failed, Mr. Johnson said: “We'll talk about that later. We’re not deterred in any way. We’re getting the job done here.”

To the disappointment of some members, the bill didn’t include a cost-of-living adjustment to their salaries, which have been static at $174,000 for the past 15 years.

“This is a serious issue as to whether or not the only people that could serve here are rich people,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said at a committee hearing about the bill on June 13.

After the vote, Republican members expressed doubts that the body would collaborate to get its appropriations legislation completed on time.

“I think the appropriations bills are going to have a difficult time getting through,” Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times after the vote. “We’re probably looking at some kind of continuing resolution sometime in September, when the question is how long is that continuing resolution going to be for?”

The House is currently considering 12 annual appropriations bills that will fund the government after Sept. 30 for the fiscal year. Four bills—funding the Department of Defense, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Veterans Affairs—have already been approved by the House.

Mr. Johnson told The Epoch Times that he still plans to pass all 12 bills before the August recess. Mr. Johnson vowed before he became speaker to cancel the planned August recess if all spending bills weren’t passed.

The bill’s defeat contrasted with the buoyant mood at a news conference that morning held by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.), where he touted his committee’s completion of all bill markups.

“We’ve done our job,” he said.

The Epoch Times contacted the Republicans who voted against the bill with requests for comment but received no reply by press time.