House Republicans moved on Tuesday to block Democrats from forcing votes on the Trump administration’s use of Signal, potential conflicts of interest involving Elon Musk and other controversial topics.

The move by the conference — which was approved in a 216-208 vote — marks the latest instance of Republicans using procedural rules, which govern debate for legislation, to shield President Trump.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended the effort shortly before its approval on Tuesday, saying the conference was “using the rules of the House to prevent political hijinks and political stunts.”

“They showed us over the last four years, last eight years, they used lawfare, they used conspiracy theories, all these political weapons to just go after the president and make his life miserable,” Johnson added. “That’s not what the American people voted for, that’s not what they deserve, we can do better, so we’re preventing this nonsensical waste of our time. We don’t have time to waste.”

On Monday afternoon, House GOP leaders added language to a rule for a series of unrelated measures that sought to prevent Democrats from........

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