Stefanik accuses Johnson of lying about defense bill provision

Washington — GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York lashed out at House Speaker Mike Johnson, accusing him of blocking a provision that would require the FBI to notify Congress when it opens counterintelligence investigations into candidates running for federal office.

Stefanik, who is a member of Johnson's leadership team, said Monday she would vote against the National Defense Authorization Act if it does not include her provision. The House could vote on the annual defense policy bill as soon as next week.

In a social media post, Stefanik said Johnson is "getting rolled" by House Democrats who oppose the provision.

"Unless this provision is added back into the bill to prevent illegal political weaponization of the intelligence community in our elections, I am a HARD NO. I have always voted in support of the defense and intelligence authorization bills, but no more," she wrote.

She continued to express her anger in a Tuesday post, blaming Johnson for "blocking my provision."

"This is an easy one. This bill is DOA unless this provision gets added in as it was passed out of committee," she said.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, claimed ignorance of the situation and said her version of the story was "false."

"I don't exactly know why Elise won't just call me. I texted her yesterday," he told reporters of the rift during a Tuesday news conference.

He said he told Stefanik over text, "What are you talking about? This hasn't even made it to my level."

The House speaker told reporters that the bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, which he believed had jurisdiction over the issue, had not agreed to include it in the defense bill.

Stefanik fired back in another post, saying she did not believe that he was unaware of the issue and urged him to "fix it." Stefanik also said it's the House Intelligence Committee that has jurisdiction over her provision.

"Just more lies from the Speaker," she said. "This is his preferred tactic to tell Members when he gets caught torpedoing the Republican agenda."

It's unclear if Stefanik's opposition to the defense bill will doom its passage in the House, where Republicans have a narrow majority. The bill has passed every year for more than six decades with bipartisan support.

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