Stefanik accuses Johnson of 'siding with' Democrats in explosive House GOP leadership rift

By Fox News · Fox News

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., accused House Speaker Mike Johnson , R-La., of siding with Democrats over Republicans in a heated public statement on Tuesday. Stefanik, whom Johnson appointed as chairwoman of House GOP leadership earlier this year, claimed Johnson was blocking a provision in the annual defense policy bill that would allow Republicans to get revenge for being targeted in alleged instances of government weaponization. Johnson called Stefanik's accusations "false" in comments to reporters on Tuesday morning and said he would support such a measure. It's an explosive rift within the highest ranks of the House Republican Conference while the GOP wrestles with a razor-thin majority in the lower chamber. MIKE JOHNSON, MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE CLASH IN HEATED PRIVATE GOP CALL OVER SHUTDOWN STRATEGY The confrontation first began on Monday evening, when Stefanik posted on X, "Republicans have the House, Senate, and the White House, yet the deep state is alive and well with the Speaker getting rolled by House Dems attempting to block my provision to require Congressional disclosure when the FBI opens counterintelligence investigations into presidential and federal candidates seeking office." She pointed to ex-FBI Director James Comey 's 2017 testimony when Stefanik said he "admitted to not following proper notification procedures" when opening the investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia. The legislation is all the more important now, Stefanik added, with revelations that ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith seized phone records of some Republican lawmakers without their knowledge during his own probe of President Donald Trump . Stefanik said she would vote against the annual defense bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), if the provision was not included. The NDAA is responsible for setting national security and defense policies for the federal government every year. A concurring defense spending bill funds those polic…