House Speaker Mike Johnson was stunned Thursday when Texas Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt went missing during a critical vote for Republicans.
With a razor-thin majority in the House of Represenatives, Hunt’s repeated absences during his Senate campaign has reportedly caused among the GOP.
“I expected him to be here so this was a surprise to me,” Johnson said, adding that he had not spoken to Hunt the entire week.
When asked whether missing Hunt hurt Republicans’ efforts to advance President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda, Johnson replied, “We have effectively a one-vote margin, so it doesn’t make the job easier.”
Hunt is running for U.S. Senate in Texas, and was missing while House Republicans advanced a rule teeing up votes on four appropriations bills, including a measure funding the Department of Homeland Security.
Hunt’s vote was not ultimately needed to advance the funding bills. Still, GOP leadership has voiced increasing irritation about his frequent absences while he campaigns ahead of the March 3 primary.
House Republicans narrowly advanced the rule in a vote of 214-213. All Democrats who were present voted no, forcing GOP leadership to scrap together enough Republican votes to pass the measure. Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York, Tom McClintock of California, and Andy Harris of Maryland also did not vote.
A public schedule for his Senate campaign showed Hunt had events throughout the week across Texas, even though the House was in session. Hunt, a member of the influential House Judiciary Committee, was also absent during former special counsel Jack Smith’s testimony to the panel Thursday.
A spokesperson for Hunt said the Speaker of the House contacted Hunt approximately 30 minutes before the votes to inform him that his vote was needed. Hunt ultimately arrived in time to cast a vote and tie a war powers resolution on Venezuela, which caused it to fail. The dramatic scene unfolded on the House floor as GOP leaders held the vote open until Hunt arrived to make the vote a tie at 215-215.
Since Hunt was sworn into Congress in January 2023, he has missed 327 out of 1,641 roll call votes, or a 20% absence rate during his three-year tenure. The average lawmaker has a lifetime absence rate of just 2%, according to GovTrack. Hunt missed 46 out of the 49 roll call votes between Dec. 18, 2025 and Jan. 21, 2026, and he has missed 35 of 38 votes since the House returned to session in the New Year.
Hunt told a Texas-based outlet Monday that Republican primary voters do not care about his frequent missed votes.
“Last I checked, the people of Texas don’t necessarily care about your attendance record,” Hunt said. “They care about whether you’ll pass gun control legislation, whether you’ll codify President Trump’s agenda and whether you’ll secure our southern border.”
Hunt is trailing his GOP primary opponents in the Texas Republican senate race by double digits, according to Decision Desk HQ’s polling average of the primary contest. He faces incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton in what has become one of the most competitive primaries for this fall’s election season.
Cornyn’s campaign has sharply criticized Hunt’s frequent absences from Capitol Hill.
“Wesley Hunt is refusing to fight for Trump’s agenda by putting his selfish political ambitions before his responsibilities,” Cornyn campaign spokesman Matt Mackowiak said in a statement. “He needs to do his job.”