House Speaker Mike Johnson is in discussions with GOP rebels threatening his ouster. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Hern was referring to the closed-door conversations ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., held with members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and their allies, at times shifting House GOP policy after hours behind closed-doors with those members. That includes side deals he made in January 2023 to win the speaker's gavel after a record 15 rounds of voting.
"It's hard to equate him and Speaker McCarthy, they're just entirely different and they had a different approach to most of everything," one GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital.
The GOP lawmaker argued that the concessions being asked of Johnson were mostly non-controversial, but added, "I just feel like it's not good practice to establish separate arrangements with separate members."
2 HOUSE REPUBLICANS MOVE TO OUST SPEAKER JOHNSON 6 MONTHS AFTER HE TOOK GAVEL
"My management style has always been – you never, ever, ever grease a squeaky wheel," Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said when asked about potential side deals. "Because if you do, you’re going to end up with more squeaky wheels."
Fox News Digital reported early on Tuesday that among the requests Greene and Massie made to Johnson were assurances that the House would not vote on any more Ukraine aid and a pledge to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation of former President Trump.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez told Fox News Digital that his advice to Johnson was to not "grease a squeaky wheel." (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"I think there's always concerns about that, that there's specific members that are getting more attention than others from the speaker himself," the second GOP lawmaker said. "But, you know, overall, I think it's kind of like, we're just trying to figure out how to move forward on some of this stuff. Everybody realizes the majority is so thin, that, you know, anybody could walk into the speaker's office and make demands."
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Johnson was asked about some GOP lawmakers' concerns about his negotiating with Greene and Massie during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
"It's not a negotiation, OK? This is how I have operated as speaker… Everybody knows I have lengthy discussions, detailed discussions on a daily basis with members across the conference. There are 217 of us. It takes a lot of time," Johnson said. "So I take Marjorie's ideas and Thomas' and everybody else's equally, and we assess them on their own value and where we can make improvements and changes and all of that. And that's what this is."
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/johnson-warned-making-side-deals-gop-rebels-dont-grease-squeaky-wheel