Why This One Republican Voted Against the Home Rules Package

Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) was the only Republican representative Monday to vote against the House Rules package that will govern how the GOP-controlled lower chamber will function over the next two years.

The new rules, approved on 118^th Congress, will make it easier to remove the House Speaker, create new committees of inquiry, and make it harder to collect taxes and spend federal funds.

The rules passed by a vote of 220 to 213, in a near-full party-line vote — all 212 Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted against the proposal, while 220 Republicans voted in favor.

Republicans say the new rules give individual lawmakers more power to influence legislation and help meet the GOP’s goal of curbing spending. But they can also complicate fundamental tasks such as military or federal funding for the chamber.

The changes come after Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected the new House Speaker after failing to meet the threshold in fourteen ballots last week. This was the highest number of votes for a speaker since the Civil War.

To reach the threshold, he had to make concessions to hard-line Republicans, limit his powers, and make it harder for him to negotiate new federal funding packages with the Biden administration, whose Democrats hold the Senate.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), after voting no to the rules package, says last week has been “messy” and he thinks proposing to repeal the rules “seems like a bad idea”.

— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) January 10, 2023

Gonzales was the only Republican to vote against the rules package, saying last week had been “messy” and he was concerned the new rules would result in cuts in defense spending.

“How am I supposed to look our allies in the eye and say, ‘I need you to increase your defense budget, but America will cut ours,'” Gonzales told CBS. Face the nation On Sunday.

The new rules released on Friday also include an increased threshold for tax rate increases, as well as ethics reform and a reduction in unauthorized spending.

news week has reached out to Gonzales for comment.

In last week’s election for Speaker of the House, Republicans who consistently chose not to vote for McCarthy included Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Eli Crane, Bob Good, Matt Rosendale and Andy Biggs.

Other concessions McCarthy had to make in the House Rules to appease hardliners included offering them more subcommittee roles and tighter government spending restraints.

The new rules also allow for aggressive probing by the administration.

Republicans also revived the “Holman Rule,” which dates back to the 19th century^th Century and allows Congress to change spending bills with the intention of a pay cut or staff layoffs or the reduction of a specific program.

Democrats were concerned about the restoration of rule, fearing that it could be used to carry out political vendettas at the expense of federal employees.