Johnson’s Latest Headache: Republicans Who Lost Their Primaries Skipping Votes

Speaker Mike Johnson already faces an almost daily attendance problem with his slim House majority, and the Texas elections on Tuesday might have made that dynamic worse.

The number of lawmakers in the House is 432, with 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats. With full attendance, Johnson can only afford to lose one vote and still get his agenda through the chamber. Any absences can complicate that math or effectively give control to the Democratic minority.

Rep. Wesley Hunt, who came in a distant third in the Texas Senate primary, had already missed dozens of House votes as he campaigned for a seat in the upper chamber. Rep. Dan Crenshaw became the first incumbent to lose his primary to state Rep. Steve Toth, a more MAGA-aligned candidate. The losses mean those two will not be returning to Congress next year.

Crenshaw missed all five House votes on Wednesday. Hunt missed the first two, but showed up to cast his ballot for the last three measures. Crenshaw did not respond to NOTUS’ text asking him to comment on his absence, and Hunt’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Republicans are worried this will become a pattern.

“We potentially have an issue because we can’t afford to have anybody missing votes,” Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart told NOTUS. “Those people who lost their primaries, who are not going to be here, they still have responsibilities. So I expect them to show up, because otherwise we have a problem.”

“The bottom line is that we’ve been passing things here, basically, by the skin of our teeth, and if we have any absences, it’s a pretty untenable situation. But again, people have a responsibility to be here,” Díaz-Balart continued. “Unless you’re super, super sick, you better show up.”

Rep. Ralph Norman, who is currently running for governor in South Carolina, said it’s “a big concern.”

“We signed a two-year pledge, we ran for office. I’m running for office, I’ve got a lot of places I could be, I’m not going to neglect my duties here,” Norman told NOTUS. He quickly noted that there are exceptions to the rule: “If it’s a needless suspension vote, I will miss some of those, but not the important ones.”

But, Norman continued: “I’m sure leadership will be talking to them and saying, ‘You need to be here.’”

Crenshaw “hasn’t exhibited any behavior that would lead me to believe that he wouldn’t show up,” Rep. Max Miller told NOTUS. “Now, if you want to talk about Mr. Hunt, go look at his record. I will give you, yeah, there’s some concern there.”

“If any member of Congress is not satisfied with their election results, that is the risk that they took when they [chose to seek] higher office or to seek re-election for their own seat,” Miller added. “If anyone, in my opinion, is going to leave Congress, or resign, or not show up to vote because they want to have a pity party because they didn’t win their election, then I think that shows everyone the exact human that they are, and really what they think of their constituents at the end of the day, which I would say, isn’t much.”

When asked if he was concerned about attendance, Johnson projected confidence.

“Look, there are challenges when people are running for elections and election seasons like this, but I don’t have any concern about attendance,” Johnson told NOTUS.

But at least privately, there’s fear that Republicans will struggle to get members who lost their primaries to fly to Washington for votes, three leadership sources told NOTUS.

Back in January, Johnson had to keep a vote on a resolution to bar President Donald Trump from taking military action in Venezuela without congressional approval open for over 20 minutes while the chamber waited for Hunt’s arrival. Democrats shouted on the floor, urging the speaker to close the vote. Ultimately, Hunt cast the decisive vote sinking the resolution.

Some lawmakers expect that to happen again.

“The speaker will use the tools that he has available to him to ensure that we get our legislative business done, and it’s the member’s responsibility to be here to do that job,” Rep. Jack Bergman told NOTUS.

As for those who have attendance problems, Bergman said he expects House GOP leadership, “especially the whip’s team, to ensure that they’re here for the votes that we really need them for.” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.

“There’s a lot of jobs I don’t want in this town, and Republican whip is definitely, you know, pretty high on that list,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar told reporters. “That’s what I would expect, is that they’re going to hold the votes open, fly people back, beg them to come back and vote, or just cancel votes.”

Democrats, Aguilar said, are also keeping a close eye on their own attendance.

“Our expectation is that members are here to vote on behalf of the American people and on behalf of their district when these important votes come,” Aguilar said. “I know that there were elections last night, I know there’s elections in two weeks. Members need to be here to vote,” Aguilar continued.

Johnson was already struggling to keep the House GOP conference in check. A number of Republicans have joined Democrats in blocking GOP bills or helping to advance Democratic-led ones. Worrying about missing members is an additional obstacle that would make it much more difficult for the speaker to keep control of the floor.

“We were elected for two full years, so we owe it to our constituents to do the job we were elected to do for the entirety of the term,” Rep. Andy Barr, who is running for Senate to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell, told NOTUS. “Primary elections should not diminish the work that needs to be done, especially with a thin majority.”

At least one Republican whose future in the House remains uncertain told NOTUS the GOP conference could count on him.

When asked if he worried members who lost their primaries would not show up to work, Rep. Kevin Kiley, who announced he’s running in a newly-redrawn California congressional district that favors Democrats, said, “I have no idea.”

He then quickly turned and shouted, “I’ll be here!” before going back into the House chamber to vote.