Cracks in GOP unity

Some House Republicans are running out of patience with Speaker Mike Johnson for keeping their chamber in recess.

• "The Speaker shouldn't even think about cancelling session for a third straight week," endangered California Republican Kevin Kiley posted today.

Why it matters: The delayed Epstein files confrontation has been simmering. But today's eruptions — between Republicans, at least — were over the urgency to get the military paid.

• Troops are set to start missing paychecks next week unless Congress passes Rep. Jen Kiggans' (R-Va.) bill to keep salaries flowing.
• Johnson has ruled out bringing her bill up for a vote, saying the Senate should pass the short-term funding stopgap that would include military pay.
• "I'm urging the Speaker and our House leadership to immediately pass my bill to ensure our servicemembers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck while supporting their families, receive the pay they've earned." Kiggans told us in a statement after Johnson ruled out a vote.

The other side: The "prevailing thought" among many centrist House Republicans and military veterans, one House Republican told us, is that "we did our job, we voted to pay the military, we voted for the status quo, it's all on Schumer, and to do anything other than that is contrary to that one singular narrative.

Go deeper.

— Kate Santaliz and Andrew Solender