WASHINGTON — Recent infighting between top Republican leaders in the House is not as widespread as some lawmakers allege, and they are likely a result of individual frustrations bubbling to the surface, according to Utah Rep. Blake Moore.
Tensions reached a fever point earlier this week when Rep. Elise Stefanik, who once served as the House GOP Conference chairwoman, publicly criticized Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., over allegations he is blocking one of her provisions from being included in the annual defense bill.
The proposal, which would require the FBI to notify Congress if the agency opened an investigation into federal candidates, was initially blocked over concerns it would cost bipartisan support — prompting Stefanik, R-N.Y., to accuse Johnson of “getting rolled by Democrats.”
The interaction surprised many Republicans on Capitol Hill, including those who sit in leadership positions.
“I was obviously blindsided by it, and I don’t think it’s widespread,” Moore, who serves as the vice chairman of the House GOP conference, told the Deseret News. “I think this is just mostly a factor of — you know, just one individual. I don’t know, because I was so blindsided by it.”
Moore sits in the fifth-highest-ranking position among House Republicans, one seat lower than Stefanik’s old position. Stefanik resigned as conference chairwoman last year when she was tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a nomination that was later withdrawn.
After that, Stefanik was given another leadership position but further down the totem pole — and has announced plans to leave Congress and run for governor in New York instead.
But Stefanik’s public break with Johnson raised eyebrows across Capitol Hill, making her the highest-ranked Republican so far to explicitly challenge his leadership. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Stefanik called Johnson an “ineffective leader” who is losing control of his own conference.
“He certainly wouldn’t have the votes to be speaker if there was a roll-call vote tomorrow,” she told the outlet. “I believe that the majority of Republicans would vote for new leadership. It’s that widespread.”
Moore pushed back against those characterizations, arguing the majority of House Republicans continue to support Johnson.
“I don’t sense that at all from the conference,” he told the Deseret News.
Instead, Moore argued the frustrations likely stem from individual clashes — and may just be a strategy to “gain leverage to get this one provision in the NDAA or something down the road.”
Moore expressed praise for Johnson, whom the Utah Republican replaced in the leadership suite as vice chair after Johnson was elected speaker in October 2023.
“Speaker Johnson, in my opinion, handles so many things with class and integrity,” Moore said. “To have that kind of stuff said about him, I don’t think it’s deserved. But he’s going to handle it the right way. He’s going to try to talk to the individual, instead of letting it play out in the press.”
Johnson, for his part, brushed off any concerns when asked about Stefanik’s comments on Wednesday.
“I’m not worried about my standing at all,” Johnson said. “We’re going to continue this agenda.”
Johnson spoke with Stefanik Tuesday evening, after which the congresswoman said the two shared views “that House Republicans need to focus on delivering results to the American people.”