Absent House Republicans Leave Majority Up For Grabs

House Republicans have reached a boiling point over their colleagues who have skipped votes in recent months, leaving their razor-thin majority ungovernable and at times giving Democrats majority status.

On Tuesday, a few hours before a vote on a critical border security bill, Republicans expressed anger over how their ability to pass legislation would be made more difficult by the absence of GOP lawmakers who were back home campaigning.

“Look, I had a pretty darn competitive primary. During the thick of it, it was competitive, I was missing valuable campaign time back home. But I did my job,” Rep. Andy Barr (R-Kentucky) recalled telling his colleagues, referencing his campaign for the GOP nomination for the Senate.

Later Tuesday, the vote to pass the party-line bill funding border security operations remained tied at 213-213, which would fail in the House, where there are no tiebreakers. Lawmakers focused on a surprise conservative vote against the bill, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), who eventually caved and gave GOP leaders the most narrow victory possible.

But the reason Walberg had to switch his vote was that three Republicans were missing. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (New Jersey) has a mysterious illness that has sidelined him for more than three months, with no public explanation. Two other members — Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman — decided to stay home in South Carolina for primary day in their losing bids for the gubernatorial nomination.

Without singling out the South Carolinians, Barr said that it’s inexcusable that Republicans are missing key votes and putting the GOP agenda in danger while seeking higher office.

The Republican leadership team has driven home the message in private that members need to focus on their daytime job first, voting in the House, according to several Republicans. But they are reluctant to call out their own members in public, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) initially denied that he makes this point.

“Everybody should be here,” Emmer said.

The issue has reached fever pitch in the last three weeks as a slew of states have had primary campaigns, so ambitious Republicans seeking statewide office have decided it’s more advantageous to stay home campaigning. It’s also dovetailed with Kean’s prolonged absence, as well as health issues for a few other Republicans.

Based on the 2024 elections, Republicans are supposed to have a majority of 220-215, affording House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) two votes to spare from his side of the aisle and pass something without any Democratic support.

In recent weeks, because of resignations and deaths, Republicans have had 217 members, along with an independent, California Rep. Kevin Kiley, who caucuses with them, while Democrats have had 212 seats.

A review of the roughly 40 House votes held since May 20 shows an alarming number of instances when GOP absences left the House in unusual circumstances:

• At least four times on recorded roll call votes, more Democrats were present than Republicans, effectively giving the minority party the majority status briefly;
• Three other times it was a tie, counting Kiley as a member of the GOP conference;
• Many other times Johnson has had only one more member of his conference voting than the Democrats — again, if Kiley is counted among Johnson’s caucus.

By and large, Democrats have had a higher percentage of members attending and voting each week, with most of their absences coming from lawmakers who are sick or have pressing family matters.

“I don’t miss votes,” said Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, who is running in a very competitive Democratic primary for the Senate nomination. She said her only missed vote, which occurred recently, came when she was in a deep discussion with someone just off the floor and a speedy 2-minute roll call was gaveled to a close before she could vote.

“I’m committed to doing my legislative work on behalf of the people of Michigan,” she told NOTUS Wednesday. “Michiganders need me here.”

In the late winter, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) drew scrutiny over missed votes as he campaigned for the GOP nomination to the Senate, but he finished third in the early March primary and has been a reliable attendee ever since.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) advanced to the late-May primary runoff in his bid to win the nomination to become Texas state attorney general, and his attendance record dropped the closer that date came. According to GovTrack, an independent site, Roy missed 20 percent of votes from April to early June.

Johnson’s leadership team has been keenly aware of these issues for months and works, through Emmer’s whip office, to know when they can and cannot hold key votes.

On May 20 and 21, Republicans were expected to hold a vote that Democrats had forced to put the House on the record about whether to halt the administration’s war in Iran. But over the course of those two days, their majority status wobbled back and forth. They were forced to postpone the vote.

The next day, they had two bills that had the exact same numbers from Johnson’s side of the aisle (209) as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D- New York) had on his side.

Knowing that at least a couple Republicans would vote with Democrats to rein in President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran, Johnson’s leadership team adjourned the chamber and punted the vote until after a planned recess.

On June 3, Democrats won that vote, 218-204, as six Republicans and Kiley joined all 211 Democrats who were present for the vote. Eight Republicans missed that vote, which effectively left the chamber tied with 211 on each side.

Johnson got some good news Wednesday when he swore in a new Republican member, Rep. James Gallagher of California, who fills the seat of the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa. He gives leaders one extra vote to spare.

“They expect us to be here,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) told NOTUS Tuesday about his constituents and GOP leaders.

Bacon is retiring after five terms rather than run for reelection, and he is already getting nudged by his family to skip votes here or there.

“My wife’s like, you’re not running again,” Bacon said. But he was already changing plans so that he could be on hand if the House needs to add a day or two to this week’s schedule because of the need to pass a bill extending an important intelligence surveillance law.

“I’ve had to cancel vacations all year long, so I can – family don’t like that,” he said.

Barr eventually won his early May primary contest by a wide margin, largely because of a late endorsement in the race by Trump. Before that, it was very competitive, with Barr never seeming to have a large lead.

“I made all the crucial votes,” he said, explaining that he and his staff stayed in close contact with leadership to never miss something important.

Barr, referring to colleagues who rearrange their personal schedules to be at the Capitol, spoke out Tuesday morning at the closed-door GOP meeting.

“That’s what I expect of my colleagues as well. You know, I understand they have primaries, but you were elected for this job. My first obligation always has been as the congressman for the Sixth District [of Kentucky], not as a candidate for Senate,” Barr said.