\n Speaker Mike Johnson is once again battling hardline conservatives for control of his own House floor \u2014 and he has no clear way out.\n <\/p>\n
\n A small group of GOP hardliners, led by firebrand Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, took a decisive vote against Johnson on Tuesday, refusing to allow him to move their own party\u2019s priorities to the floor until Republican leaders come up with a plan to pass President Donald Trump\u2019s federal elections overhaul bill<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n More than a dozen House Republicans blocked Johnson\u2019s path to the floor for the annual Pentagon policy bill, in a major defeat for GOP leaders. It failed 198-224.\n <\/p>\n \n The problem: Congress, in its current makeup, cannot pass the bill in the form Trump wants, lacking the votes even with GOP majorities in both chambers.\n <\/p>\n \n But Luna and others have demanded that Senate GOP leaders take extreme steps, such as changing the chambers\u2019 rules, to muscle through Trump\u2019s priority. Senate GOP leaders have countered they also lack the votes to change chambers\u2019 rules.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s all amounting to an intense summertime clash that\u2019s jamming up the House and spiking tensions in an already fractious GOP conference.\n <\/p>\n \n For Johnson, it means he\u2019s unable to bring critical bills to the floor, such as the annual Pentagon policy bill and annual appropriations bills. And if he can\u2019t reach a compromise, he\u2019ll be forced to send members home early for the second straight week.\n <\/p>\n