Rep. Elise Stefanik accused House Speaker Mike Johnson of \u201cblocking\u201d one of her initiatives in an intraparty spat Tuesday that threatened Congress\u2019 defense package.<\/p>\n
Stefanik accused Johnson of blocking a measure out of National Defense Authorization talks that would\u2019ve required the FBI to inform candidates for federal office if they\u2019re being investigated as part of a counterintelligence operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Speaker is blocking my provision to root out the illegal weaponization that led to Crossfire Hurricane, Arctic Frost, and more. He is siding with [Democratic Rep.] Jamie Raskin against Trump Republicans to block this provision to protect the deep state,\u201d she posted<\/a> to X Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an easy one. This bill is DOA unless this provision gets added in as it was passed out of committee,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is running for New York governor next year, is lashing out at House Speaker Mike Johnson, alleging he\u2019s blocking legislation she\u2019s pushing. AP<\/p>\n The unusual public feud amongst House higher-ups comes as Stefanik runs for governor and readies to leave her congressional seat next year.<\/p>\n The provision was in reaction to<\/a> congressional Republicans\u2019 probe into the origins of then-FBI Director James Comey\u2019s 2016 investigation into collusion between President Trump\u2019s campaign and Russia. Stefanik rose to prominence<\/a> in part for her grilling of Comey during a hearing on Capitol Hill in 2017.<\/p>\n Johnson flatly denied that he\u2019s blocking the provision, saying the decision to do so at this stage of the process falls to the top members of the House and Senate judiciary committees \u2013 two Democrats and two Republicans.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t exactly know why Elise won\u2019t just call me,\u201d Johnson told reporters, acting somewhat confused about the dustup Tuesday, He noted that Stefanik is \u201cupset\u201d about the provision and that he\u2019s offered to \u201chelp her resolve it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI support her provision. I mean, I would vote for it. I think it\u2019s smart and I\u2019m not sure why it wasn\u2019t included,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know why she\u2019s frustrated with me. I literally had nothing to do with it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n House Speaker Mike Johnson acted confused as to why he was being attacked by Stefanik when asked about the spat Tuesday. Getty Images<\/p>\n