House GOP tensions erupt as Republicans split over year-end agenda

Tensions within the House GOP are simmering as lawmakers prepare to begin their final legislative week of 2025.

More than a dozen House Republicans who spoke to Fox News Digital last week gave varying answers about where the tension lies, with frustration directed at the speaker. Mike JohnsonR-La., White Housetheir colleagues in the Senate and even each other.

Most of the issues they discussed were also different, but some people expressed concern about whether there might be any defining legislative issues that Republicans could unite around in 2026 to build on their signature achievement with last summer's “one big, beautiful bill.”

“Right now, we don't have a specific program that we're moving towards, like we did with one big, beautiful bill,” one House GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital. “It focused all our energy.”

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Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., said he has not been disappointed by any particular leader in Congress, but lamented that the institution is preventing House Republicans from better addressing the challenges they face.

“The problem is, because of the nature of this beast, we're always fighting the next big emergency, aren't we? So instead of being proactive and making good decisions – I mean healthcare. Health care has been the number one expense for families for a decade,” McCormick said.

He said Republicans “did nothing” on health care when they first took office earlier this year and are now left “in that position” as they struggle to find a solution to looming health insurance premium hikes early next year.

House Republicans introduced a bill aimed at lowering health care costs Friday night, but it's unclear at this point whether it will have enough support to pass.

Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in general terms: “I always want to see more action. My job is not to come here and be satisfied.”

But he said about House GOP Leadership“When you're in charge, you get more blame and more praise than you probably deserve, but it's going to take the whole conference to come together and remember what got us here.”

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However, a significant portion of GOP lawmakers have directed their anger at Johnson in recent weeks.

“I think there are a lot of concerns about the way things have been handled in the last few months, starting with the leadership that allowed this redistricting war to break out that will upend the districts of dozens of our members. And then the fact that we haven't been here for two months,” Rep. Kevin Kiely, R-Calif., told Fox News Digital. “And then the fact that the House isn't really in the driver's seat on a lot of the key issues here – I think all of that is a very frustrating part of the conference.”

Others are disappointed in Johnson for more personal reasons. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital that she believes Johnson is blocking her efforts to create a National Women's Museum. Donald Trump support.

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“This project was stopped by the speaker of the committee, despite the fact that there were 165 sponsors from both parties,” Malliotakis said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., was outraged last week by Johnson's handling of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

“We're being pushed around and we just have to eat it or, you know, vote against raising pay for our military personnel. This is a very unfortunate situation that the speaker continues to put us in,” Steube said. “I think the passage of the bill that Trump signed was excellent and everyone should be commended for it because it was just a huge achievement and it will do a lot of good for the country next year. Now that we’ve got that out of the way…now you’re like, what can we do next?”

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been one of Johnson's most vocal critics in particular and has also recently become a political foe of Trump.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, D-N.Y., whom Johnson nominated to lead the House GOP after the White House pulled her from the race for ambassador to the United Nations, publicly accused Johnson of kowtowing to Democrats over the NDAA position before turning the ire back when she won that battle.

And Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., recently wrote a scathing op-ed in The New York Times, where she wrote, “Here's the hard truth Republicans don't want to hear: Nancy Pelosi has been a more effective Speaker of the House than any Republican this century.”

“Speaker Mike Johnson is better than his predecessor. But the frustration of being a rank-and-file House member is compounded by the fact that some people or groups remain marginalized within the party and have little say,” Mace wrote.

Mace told Fox News Digital that she spoke with Johnson the same week the article was published. Although she declined to go into detail about their private conversation, Mace said she did not feel heard by the other party.

The 2nd House Republican, who spoke anonymously to Fox News Digital, asked if there was broader frustration with Johnson, said: “Yes, I would say so. Especially ordinary people.”

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But three others accused those who publicly criticized Johnson of doing so for personal gain.

A senior House Republican said the complaints were “from people whose modus operandi is to demonstrate their dissent for their own purposes.”

The House 4 Republican said, “Some people have been disappointed, but we have people who are in Congress now who care more about their personal headlines when they're running for other offices or whatever, so they're trying to push things.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., issued a public statement in support of Johnson as frustration among Republican women first surfaced earlier this month.

“Speaker Mike Johnson led the House majority with God-given courage, clarity, and remarkable patience. Under his leadership, House Republicans are delivering real results and advancing President Trump's America First agenda every day,” she said.

But a fourth unnamed House Republican acknowledged that his fellow Republicans were disappointed in the White House.

“I think our intentions are the same, but you know, sometimes we have a job to do and we want to be involved, but we don't want to be told what to do,” they said. “It's always great to have interaction between [Congress and the White House]”

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The top House Republican mentioned in the story also said there is “some” concern about how the White House views Congress' role as a co-equal branch of government.

But of the anti-Johnson tensions within the GOP, they said, “I think it's a natural ebb and flow… I don't think there's anything to worry about.”

Another Republican, Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said his disappointment stems from Senate as a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“We are moving very quickly in the House of Representatives and we are ready to continue to move forward. We simply cannot move forward without the Senate,” Amodei said.

He said he was satisfied with the House's performance this year, but “nothing can be done without a bicameral solution. And this is now a difficult task.”

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The 5th House Republican agreed that a number of House GOP gains have stalled “at the foot of the Senate, where they need 60 votes.”

This year, however, only the House of Representatives has made significant changes to Trump's agenda. House Republicans voted to codify roughly 100 of his executive orders, more than 60% of the former president's total. Joe Biden represented throughout his term of office.