Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick appeals to many voters who want to value moderation. While split ticket voters tell me they admire Fitzpatrick’s self-declared moderation and independence, I am asking them to think about how much Fitzpatrick owes far-right Christian nationalist House Speaker Mike Johnson and whether his record truly demonstrates independence. In reality, Congressman Fitzpatrick has consistently enabled the agenda not of moderates, but of the most extreme conservatives in Congress.
Currently, Democrats don’t hold the Senate, the House, the Presidency or the Supreme Court. This matters. James Madison warned that concentrating legislative, executive, and judicial power “in the same hands” could lead to tyranny. When we vote for a House member, we also help decide which party will control the House. House members elect the Speaker of the House, and Fitzpatrick cast his vote for the ultra-conservative Mike Johnson to this powerful position, twice, with predictable consequences.
Reelecting Fitzpatrick will leave all three branches in the hands of extremist conservatives whose plan is to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Even if Congressman Fitzpatrick were to vote “No” on those bills, a Republican majority in the House guarantees these bills will move forward. A Democratic majority would stop them cold. A vote for a Republican representative, even a true moderate, is still a vote for ultra-conservative Republican control of the House. This means more of the same: no check on this havoc of costly tariffs, unprovoked war, tax breaks for the super-rich, massive debt, healthcare cuts, corruption, rejection of international norms, dismantling of regulatory agencies, and anti-science initiatives. In short, a vote for Brian Fitzpatrick is a vote to continue this never-ending Trumpian chaos.
I say this respectfully: if you truly value moderation and independence, do not give Brian Fitzpatrick your vote.
If I have not convinced you yet, please read on.
The Current Election Denier Speaker of the House Holds Vast Power
The Speaker of the House is one of the most powerful and influential positions in American government. He is second in the line of presidential succession. He decides which bills reach the House floor for debate and a vote, meaning he can advance or block major legislative initiatives. He decides who serves on what committees, and he decides the process by which bills are considered. He serves as the primary negotiator representing the House position when dealing with the Senate and the President and even controls each representative’s office size and location.
Congressman Fitzpatrick voted to give Mike Johnson all this power. Consider what enabling this ultra-right Speaker has meant to our district and our country.
Mike Johnson held a significant role in the attempts to overturn the 2020 election through his close relationship with Donald Trump and his echoing of Trump’s relentless promotion of election conspiracy claims. Before becoming Speaker, he took the lead in filing a brief in support of a December 2020 lawsuit that sought to overturn Joe Biden’s win (that claim was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court). Even as rioters were overtaking the Capitol on January 6th, Johnson told Fox News he would continue to try and stop Biden from becoming President, echoing wild conspiracy theories pushed by President Trump. Then he led 137 other House Republicans to vote against certifying Biden’s win.
Despite all of that, Brian Fitzpatrick put this election denier in charge in 2023 and again in 2025 when Johnson squeaked to victory by one vote. Can we trust Speaker Mike Johnson to permit the peaceful transfer of the majority in the House if the Democrats win? I don’t know. I do know he has never walked back his election denials, continues to promote conspiracies, and is undermining trust in this upcoming election. Speaker Johnson is, in large part, why I have concerns about whether election results will be honored. Congressman Fitzpatrick put him in power.
Mike Johnson turned Congress into a rubber stamp for Trump
Speaker Johnson has given away the Congressional power of the purse to President Trump to exercise how he pleases. Without consulting Democrats, Johnson fast-tracked a vote to approve Trump’s July 2025 DOGE-inspired cancellation of $9.4 billion that a bi-partisan Congress had appropriated for foreign-aid and public-broadcasting. Worse, Johnson did not object when Trump withheld nearly $5 billion in Congressionally legislated spending in August of 2025, and another $1 billion last month.
These recissions are direct tests of whether Congress will protect its own Constitutionally authorized spending decisions. If Republicans can obtain Democratic concessions and then the President just erases the commitments Democrats secured, it completely undermines the trust that makes compromise between both parties possible.
A Speaker committed to being a co-equal branch of government would defend the House’s authority, regardless of party. Giving up Congress’s power is not moderation. It is surrender. Mike Johnson’s leadership decision to turn the House into an instrument of Trump negates any of the “coming together to solve problems with bipartisan, centrist solutions that will deliver real results to the American people” Congressman Fitzpatrick touts as his guiding principle. His occasional strongly worded objections to Johnson’s actions and non-deciding votes pushing back against the far-right cannot make up for his decision to put Trump’s radical, self-proclaimed “protector’ in charge of the House.
Brian Fitzpatrick Is a Pretend Independent
Speaker Mike Johnson leads the multi-million dollar “Grow the Majority” GOP joint fundraising committee. This committee ensures that Congressman Fitzpatrick’s campaign coffers are full. Fitzpatrick’s campaign reports receiving $790,000 in transfers through Grow the Majority in the 2025-2026 election cycle. In April, Speaker Johnson personally swung through Bucks County to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Fitzpatrick.
We all know that money, especially this much, never comes without strings attached.
Fitzpatrick votes for the Republican agenda “only” 77% of the time. Party leaders are well-aware that the Pennsylvania First District is one of a dwindling number of districts with a closely divided electorate. Swing district representatives have latitude from their leadership to defy their party, but only when their votes don’t matter. This allows swing-district representatives to declare their independence (increasing their electability in a swing district) without harming the party’s agenda. For example, Fitzpatrick broke with hardline Republicans to join Democrats in supporting a bill to maintain Affordable Care Act subsidies, and a June of this year call for additional Ukraine assistance. Both bills predictably stalled in the Republican Senate. Fitzpatrick joined with Democrats to introduce legislation popular to swing voters here that, predictably under Republican House control, never makes it out of committee. As one Democratic member of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation put it to Philadelphia Magazine, Fitzpatrick “is always with us — when we don’t need him.”
Would the Maga-controlled GOP really expend so many resources on this race if they did not know they could count of Brian Fitzpatrick’s loyalty when it matters? Can Speaker Johnson call in a favor when he needs it?
On May 22, 2025, Brian Fitzpatrick helped the House pass its version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” by 215 to 214 and, in the lead up to that vote, was the tie-breaker in a vote that put in place Speaker Johnson’s preferred process to jam this bill through – limiting debate to two hours and prohibiting any amendments. (At the time, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would leave 10 million-plus Americans uninsured while adding seven trillion to our deficit by 2034.)
While Fitzpatrick voted no when the revised bill returned from the Senate in July, that final version passed 218 to 214. Had he voted no in May of 2025, it could have stopped the bill. In its recent editorial endorsing Bob Harvie, the Philadelphia Inquirer called this maneuver “a calculated two-step” to hide his allegiance to this administration.
Conclusion
I know neighbors who appreciate Brian Fitzpatrick’s work and feel uneasy about voting against someone they personally like. I feel some of that tension myself. His occasional independence and his service to Bucks County deserve acknowledgment. But a representative’s job includes deciding who leads the House. Twice, Fitzpatrick chose Trumpian Mike Johnson.
If we value an independent or moderate approach, we should ask whether that choice strengthens Congress as a check on the president and protects trust in elections. Based on Johnson’s extreme record and Fitzpatrick’s decisive May vote, I do not think it does. You may weigh the facts differently. I hope you will weigh the Speaker vote as seriously as any individual vote Fitzpatrick has cast.
