The narrowly divided House has adopted a rules package, with a vote of 215-209, that most notably will see a significantly raised threshold for members to trigger an effort to oust the speaker.
Under the section-by-section analysis of the rules, it would now take nine members of the Republican conference to trigger a motion to vacate the speakership, a threshold that was just a single member when the GOP opted to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy last Congress.
The package’s adoption was not without its GOP critics: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) previously objected to the inclusion of language that would consider a bill to impose sanctions over any International Criminal Court action against people like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“How did a bill to protect Netanyahu make it into the House rules package to be voted on immediately after the speaker vote?” Massie asked on social media. “Where are our priorities?!”
The decision to raise the threshold for ousting a speaker was first reported by POLITICO last fall.
Among the other changes in the rules package is language that would limit votes on suspensions measures — an expedited process requiring two-thirds support for passage — to just Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. House lawmakers have recently used that procedure on days later in the week, like Friday, to pass a short-term government funding bill.
The House Freedom Caucus pushed for the inclusion of the suspension calendar change, according to one GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to discuss negotiations.
Meredith Hill Lee contributed to this report.
