A protest against the deal House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., cut with President Joe Biden to address the debt ceiling and avert a first-ever U.S. default has brought routine business in the House of Representatives to a halt. 

A dozen hardline Republicans, including a handful of Texas lawmakers, are banding together to send a message to the speaker

What You Need To Know

  • A protest against the deal Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy cut with President Joe Biden to address the debt ceiling has delayed routine business in the House of Representatives 

  • On Tuesday, 11 far-right Republicans joined with Democrats in a procedural move to block legislation from going forward, effectively shutting down the House floor

  • Those renegade Republicans said the debt-ceiling deal McCarthy negotiated with Biden was a betrayal of the promises the California Republican made to conservatives in order to win the speaker's gavel after 15 rounds of voting

  • McCarthy has been working behind these scenes to address the anger on his right flank, meeting with members of his conference

"Trust was broken in the way it was negotiated," Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Spectrum News. “We need to get back to a strong Republican Conference, because if we have unity in the Republican conference, even with our small majority, we can do great things.”  

On Tuesday, 11 far-right Republicans joined with Democrats in a procedural move to block legislation from going forward, effectively shutting down the House floor.  

"Right now, there is no activity happening in the Congress because of the extreme nature of the House Republican conference; that's sad," House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said. 

Those renegade Republicans said the debt-ceiling deal McCarthy negotiated with Biden was a betrayal of the promises the California Republican made to conservatives in order to win the speaker's gavel after 15 rounds of voting.

"I can only speak for myself, is that we have one more opportunity to control spending in this Congress," said Self. "That's the appropriations process. I want to see the appropriations process reduce out-of-control spending. We've lost our leverage through the passage of the debt ceiling bill." 

The hard-right Republicans aren't the only members of Congress unhappy with the deal. Progressive Democrats took issue with a provision expanding work requirements for nutrition aid, formerly known as food stamps. 

"There's been a very targeted attack by the top Republican officials in Washington D.C., against SNAP benefits, and this doesn't make very much sense to me because they say that it's to address the deficit, to address the debt. But what they're talking about is taking $2 per meal away from overwhelmingly working families, kids, and seniors," said Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas.

But the opposition on both sides wasn't enough to scuttle the bill, which President Biden signed into law last week.

McCarthy has been working behind these scenes to address the anger on his right flank, meeting with members of his conference.

"I hear from my Texas constituents all the time. They want us to hold the line because they understand how dangerous the debt is," Self told Spectrum News. "They understand how dangerous the out-of-control spending is. So we need to work to put it back together again."

Republican leaders told members there would be no floor votes in the House through Friday because of the rebellion.

That gives the speaker through the weekend to try and work his most conservative members.