Inside Mike Johnson's déjà vu cycle of failed rule votes

Speaker Mike Johnson will face the same problem next week that he faced last week: a bloc of Republicans willing to shut down the House floor over the GOP's signature election bill, the SAVE Act.

Why it matters: It's difficult to see how Johnson (R-La.) will overcome the paralysis that has overtaken the House floor — and Republicans across the conference are increasingly frustrated.

Johnson presided over the ninth failed rule vote of his less-than-three-year-long speakership last week, this one tanked by 13 of his members.

Frustration in the conference with a small band of conservatives who keep using procedural rule votes — once a rubber stamp for the majority — as leverage to force action on unrelated priorities extends well beyond the speaker and his leadership team.

It was the fifth failed vote on a rule in this Congress, and the 12th since Republicans took the majority in January 2023. Before that, a rule hadn't failed in two decades.

Driving the news: For the last two working weeks, Johnson was forced to scrap planned legislative business and end the House's week early after his members took down a rule vote.

The bulk of those members tanked last week's vote on the National Defense Authorization Act because it doesn't include an amendment on the SAVE Act.

The SAVE Act was also the culprit the previous week.

Between the lines: The repeated shutdowns of House floor action are wearing on members who say they're wasting valuable legislative time to make a point that won't change the bill's prospects in the Senate.

What they're saying: "The SAVE America Act? It's over there," Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) told Axios in the Capitol last month, gesturing toward the Senate. "We did our thing. ... You think you're going to force, over here, them to do something different?"

"That's insane, and I don't play insane."

"The votes are where they are. I mean, you just got to accept reality," Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) told Axios.

Asked about the standstill, Johnson told "Fox News Sunday" that he "just decided it was best to send everybody home to go celebrate July 4 in their districts.'

"We'll come back, gather everybody together," he said, adding that there was a "big urgency" to pass the SAVE Act before the November midterms.

"The President has that as a top priority, and so do I."

What's next: Johnson hopes to pass a version of the SAVE Act that would create a grant program incentivizing states to adopt voter ID laws through reconciliation, a process that would only require a simple majority in the Senate.

But some hardliners are already saying grants wouldn't be enough.

And GOP leaders are quickly running out of time to pass a third reconciliation bill. ...