Two Republicans cast votes in opposition to the House GOP megabill Thursday morning. One — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — was expected, given his long history of criticism of Republican leaders’ approach to the legislation.
The other — Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio — was somewhat more surprising. A devout fiscal hawk, he has not been among the House Republicans most vocal in pushing for changes to the sprawling party-line bill.
The former member of the Freedom Caucus has long aligned himself with the right flank of the GOP caucus and — like Massie — had signaled he was concerned about long-term deficit spending.
Davidson was among the holdouts on the budget blueprint that set up consideration of the bill earlier this year, but he came around in support after he said he received “assurances” on cuts to discretionary spending.
But Davidson couldn’t get to yes on Thursday’s early morning vote, mainly because of what he views as a failure to enact enough cost reduction.
“While I love many things in the bill, promising someone else will cut spending in the future does not cut spending. Deficits do matter and this bill grows them now,” Davidson posted on X just after 6 a.m. Thursday. “The only Congress we can control is the one we’re in. Consequently, I cannot support this big deficit plan.”
Still, his opposition had flown under the radar. He sits on the Financial Services Committee, which did not have a central role in crafting the bill. Members of the Budget, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce panels had more influence over the course of the legislation.
Warren is no stranger to being a rebel, even among the iconoclasts in his own party. He was ousted from the House Freedom Caucus late last year after backing John McGuire in a primary battle against Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.). He first came to prominence by winning former Speaker John Boehner’s House seat when he retired, then immediately joining the Freedom Caucus that had long plagued Boehner.
Leadership said they weren’t blindsided, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise telling reporters he wasn’t surprised by Davidson’s vote. Davidson’s fellow Hill conservatives had tried unsuccessfully to flip his vote but came to acknowledge he was dug in.
“I was talking to him but … I wasn’t going to get Massie to yes, either,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who’s close to Davidson.
“He indicated he was going to vote no for quite some time. He was locked in on a no,” added Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.).
And others who held out on the megabill signaled they might come down on Davidson’s side in the long run.
“Warren’s a principled man. And history may bear out that Warren and Thomas were the wise men in this course,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).
Jennifer Scholtes and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
