House Republican leaders gathered for a late-night meeting over a gas tax proposal, but it reportedly erupted into shouting and desk-pounding

House Speaker Mike Johnson asked senior Republicans to come to his office at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday to review a proposal that would pause the federal gas tax until after Election Day. House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland had been pushing that measure. Sources told The Washington Sun that Harris had already agreed to back leadership on a separate procedural vote after they pledged to hold a meeting on the tax idea.

The group included the heads of the five ideological caucuses, often referred to as the “five families,” as well as several committee chairs. Five people who sat in on the session and one other person, later briefed on it, called the gathering among the most heated of the year. “Everyone was fired up,” one source said.

The talks reportedly fell apart when Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, arrived with a printed copy of a 2022 X post. In that earlier message, Harris had spoken against a similar gas-tax pause sought by then-President Joe Biden. Graves, whose panel handles the tax, objected to sending the new bill to the floor outside the usual process and used Harris’s old remarks as part of his argument.

Transportation chair produced a 2022 social media post during the session

Harris’s 2022 post read, “Suspending the federal gas tax is just another Biden Administration stunt to distract from their self-inflicted crisis.” People in the room said Harris grew furious, struck the desk, and shouted, “This is f–king war! This is war!”

Harris then moved toward the door. Johnson asked him not to leave and urged him to stay and “talk this out,” sources said. Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, an ally of Harris, then turned on Graves. Higgins asked, “Why do you have to come at him personally?” and called him a “You disrespectful fool!” Both Higgins and Harris then left.

Those present later said the session ranked among the wildest they had attended. “The room was really tense,” one source said. The following day Higgins posted on X that Graves is an “Establishment elitist” with a “lifetime Heritage score of 69.”

Higgins wrote that Graves “just killed the Freedom Caucus bill that would have canceled the federal fuel tax for 3 months. Our intention was to bring the bill to the House floor tomorrow night. Man wants his taxes.” He continued, “And he was rude about it. Unbelievable. The swamp is fighting hard to come back.”

Spokespeople for Higgins, Graves, and Harris did not immediately reply when asked for comment. The party’s internal fractures are evident in other disputes, such as when a GOP congressman forced a House vote on impeaching Pete Hegseth.  

One source labeled the clash a “dustup” inside a Congress already working with a very narrow Republican majority. Some lawmakers who consider themselves reliable votes have said they are growing tired of colleagues they see as willing to derail bills to force their own priorities.

In July, Johnson told Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, “I’m sick of this s–t,” during a separate argument. Reps. Ann Wagner of Missouri and Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma have also publicly criticized Johnson on the House floor for yielding to the far right and leaving other members aside, according to earlier reports of those exchanges.

Repeated fights have prompted the House to drop scheduled votes and dismiss members early. Less than a day after Tuesday night’s meeting, Johnson said the chamber would wrap up early and send members home until after the midterms.