Fiscal hawks in the House fired a warning shot over government funding by withholding support for, but ultimately allowing passage of, a funding measure on Thursday.

It sent Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a message about the confrontational members’ posture ahead of an end-of-the-month shutdown deadline, and allowed them to vent frustrations about how leaders handled conservative amendments on the funding bill.

The move came on final passage of the House’s fiscal year 2026 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, one of 12 regular bills to fund the federal government.

The bill narrowly passed on a 214-213 vote, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in opposing it: Moderate Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.); libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.); Rep. Tom McClintock (Calif.); and former Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (Pa.).

But at one point, seven Republicans had cast votes against the legislation, and the vote remained open as GOP leaders and aides huddled with members of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus.

After several minutes of discussion, Freedom Caucus members Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) eventually flipped their votes to yes, allowing the measure to pass.

The fiscal hawks were in part protesting how GOP leadership handled amendments from fiscal hawks on the bill that failed. Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), a Freedom Caucus member who voted for the bill, said his colleagues were frustrated about “amendments not getting any serious consideration from a conference that claims to be conservative and wanting to DOGE and do all those kind of things.”

Roy, for instance, had led an amendment to strike funding to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the Department of Energy.

“Effectively the operation is whipping against” those kind of amendments, Roy said, charging that they “let things kind of unfold, where all of these amendments die when they're things that are generally supported by a lot of people across the country and in line with the President's agenda.”

But the members were also concerned about how GOP leaders are about to handle the end-of-fiscal year funding deadline on Sept. 30, as fiscal hawks clash with GOP appropriators on the length and structure of a stopgap to avoid a government shutdown. Freedom Caucus members have been pushing for a long-term continuing resolution and no spending increases, while House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) is eyeing a stopgap until late November.

Roy indicated that there was progress in assessing leadership’s plan on how to handle spending after conversations on the House floor during the holdup.

“Suffice it to say, I'm slightly more satisfied about the overall direction of where we're headed than I was about an hour ago. We still have more to do,” Roy said.

Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), another Freedom Caucus member, was the other GOP member who voted no before flipping to yes, The Hill has learned.

The mini-rebellion comes just hours after Johnson spoke at an event celebrating the House Freecom Caucus’s 10-year anniversary.

Johnson’s attendance at the event was notable given the group’s history of moving against Republican speakers. But unlike his predecessors, Johnson has spoken at Freedom Caucus meetings multiple times and had a more collegial relationship with them.

But Thursday’s vote shows that the fiscal hawks are not going to let up on the group's pattern of using every leverage point available to them to exert pressure on leadership, in advancement of what they see as more conservative outcomes.

“The bill’s pretty lacking,” said Perry, one of the four GOP no votes. “The whole thing is just a weak effort.”

McClintock, meanwhile, in a statement said that he voted no on the bill over objections to earmarks and “billions of dollars to subsidize favored energy companies and interests” that make “a mockery of these fundamental principles of responsible fiscal management.”

Aris Folley contributed.

Source: The Hill - News