But the deal reached with Schumer rests on a shaky foundation. Johnson met with several members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus on Thursday, some of whom left the speaker’s office under the impression that a new deal on government funding would be reached. “It’s not going to be the current deal,” Representative Ralph Norman told reporters. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said that Johnson is “going to have to go back to the drawing table.”
However, Johnson himself said that no commitment had been made, raising questions about his ability to communicate effectively with his members. “We had a cross section of members in today, will continue having cross sections of members in, and while those conversations are going on, I’ve made no commitments. So if you hear otherwise, it’s just simply not true,” Johnson said after the meeting.
Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, a top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, indicated that reneging on the deal with Democrats would undermine Republican credibility. “In this process, the most important thing is your word. And so if you break your word, you can never negotiate anything,” Diaz-Balart told reporters. “Like it or not, we have a top-line agreement.”