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EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are heading into the next Congress ready to brawl.
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who is set to go from the No. 3 most powerful House Republican to No. 2 next year, told Fox News Digital that the GOP will hold the new Democrat majority “accountable” for their far-left faction’s ideas over the next two years, even if they cannot control what bills get a vote.
Emmer, who has served as House majority whip for the past four years, was elected Tuesday to serve as minority whip alongside incoming House Minority Leader Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. The Speaker of the House position turns over to Democrats, and will likely be won by current minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
And despite Jeffries poised to take control of what legislation gets to the House floor, Emmer signaled House Republicans would find ways to push their agenda as well.
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“What’s their answer to dealing with costs and wages? We’re going to investigate Trump,” Emmer said in reference to Democrats. “That’s not going to solve the problems that they created. So that’s going to be the job of the whip, is to make sure that we have a coordinated process — committee hearings, floor votes — to expose and define exactly who these people really are.”
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Emmer, in his first print interview since winning the House minority whip job, would not go into detail about how Republicans would utilize floor votes, however.
“There’s a toolbox with a bunch of different tools, and you’re going to have to build that strategy as you go from week to week,” he said.
The Minnesota Republican also signaled there would be little appetite for bipartisanship over the next two years, a sentiment he suggested would come from the other side of the aisle.
“Well look, they’re not going to work with us, that’s pretty clear, and I don’t even know if they’re going to be able to work with each other,” Emmer said.
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He repeated a short time later, “I see nowhere where they’re going to work with Republicans. And Republicans who think they are should think again, because they will tell you nice things, and then they will just go do what they do.”
Meanwhile other House Republicans are already coming up with ideas on how to put Democrats on the spot on the House floor in the new Congress.
“We’ll file amendments,” said Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla. “And I think that’ll be where having good debaters and communicators would be important.”
Holding amendment votes is commonplace before large pieces of legislation like the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which Congress has enacted annually for decades to update and reauthorize critical national security policies.
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., suggested an emphasis on a parliamentary procedure called the “motion to recommit,” which allows the minority party to get a vote on altering or even killing a bill in its tracks.
“I expect we’ll use that smartly,” LaLota said. “But as well, a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries will be wise to work these problems backwards, to know that anything he puts on the floor that he wants to become law or budget needs President Trump’s signature and probably 60 votes in the Senate.”
Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., said “there’s been a lot of conversation about going on offense.”
“We want to make sure that they know when they come to the floor, they’re gonna dread it, I hope,” Harris said.
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But there’s another mechanism for forcing a House vote that’s been used more and more often in recent years — often by their fellow Republicans.
Privileged resolutions allow lawmakers on either side to get a vote on a given bill within two days of its introduction. It generally begins with a procedural vote on whether to “table” the bill or refer it to committee in order to stop it, before a vote on the measure itself.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., most recently invoked it to force the House to consider impeaching Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. But that was defeated when the rest of the House GOP banded together to refer the bill to committee.
The GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital, however, signaled little appetite for using it.
“I think either party would be wise to build consensus around things that help actually deliver for the American people,” LaLota said. “The privileged resolutions have been abused in my time here, and there’s a better way to do business.”
And Emmer said his main goal for the next two years would be winning back the House majority in 2028 — which he insisted was a realistic goal.
He said at least 38 seats flipped by Democrats would be “ready to return to Republican hands,” and could see some old faces return.
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Asked whether he wanted to see some of those losing GOP incumbents run for their seats again, Emmer said, “I absolutely hope so, I’ve talked to several already.”
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