Why This One Republican Voted Against the House Rules Package

Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) was the only Republican representative who voted against the House rules package on Monday, which will govern how the GOP-controlled lower chamber will operate for the next two years.

The new rules, approved at the 118^th Congress, will make it easier to remove the House speaker, form new investigation committees, and make it harder to raise taxes and spend federal funds.

The rules passed by 220-213, in a near fully party line vote—all 212 Democratic lawmakers in the House voted against the motion, while 220 Republicans voted in favor of it.

Republicans say the new rules give individual lawmakers more power to influence legislation and help achieve the GOP's goal of limiting spending. But they can also make it difficult for the chamber to carry out basic tasks like funding the military or federal government.

The changes come after Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected as the new House Speaker, after failing to reach the threshold in fourteen ballots last week. This was the highest number of votes for a speaker since the Civil War.

To reach the threshold, he had to make concessions to Republican hardliners, limiting his powers and making it harder for him to negotiate new government funding packages with the Biden administration, whose Democrats hold the Senate.

Gonzales was the only Republican who voted against the rules package, saying last week was "chaotic" and that he was concerned that the new rules would lead to cuts in defense spending.

"How am I going to look at our allies in the eye and say, 'I need you to increase your defense budget, but yet America is going to decrease ours,'" Gonzales told CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday.

The new rules, published on Friday, also include an increased threshold for tax rate increases, as well as ethics reform and reduction on unauthorized spending.

Newsweek has contacted Gonzales for comment.

In the ballots for the House Speaker last week, Republicans who consistently chose not to vote for McCarthy included Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Eli Crane, Bob Good, Matt Rosendale and Andy Biggs.

Among the other concessions that McCarthy had to make in the House rules to appease the hardliners was to offer them more subcommittee roles and add more limits on government spending.

The new rules also allow for aggressive probes of the administration.

Republicans also revived the "Holman rule," which dates back to the 19^th century, and allows Congress to amend spending bills with the intent of salary reduction or staff termination, or cutting a specific program involved.

Democrats have been concerned about the restoration of the rule, worrying that it could be used to carry out political vendettas at the expense of federal workers.