Staff Reports
Washington is buzzing with the return of lawmakers, who are rolling up their sleeves and getting down to business this week. The House is strategically focused on several key annual spending bills, targeting Biden administration officials’ hefty paychecks and aiming to sideline partisan prosecutions against Donald Trump. Yes, it’s a busy week ahead as Republicans strive to restore sanity and fiscal responsibility.
On the chopping block are three must-pass appropriations bills focused on funding the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and state and foreign operations. The House Appropriations Committee is also hard at work marking up other spending bills, with the Justice Department’s purse strings set for a potential snip. Special counsel Jack Smith’s witch hunt against Trump is rightfully under scrutiny, with top Trump allies like Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene spearheading the effort to defund Smith’s politically motivated prosecutions.
House GOP looks to slash funding for Jack Smith in DOJ spending bill https://t.co/jCXitJaqY3 via @dcexaminer
— JohnnyGuitar (@JohnPalumb60539) June 24, 2024
And that’s just the beginning. Jordan is also championing cuts to funding for the litany of legal skirmishes unleashed by partisan prosecutors, specifically targeting the infamous trio: Manhattan’s District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Fulton County’s Fani Willis, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Each of these Democratic darlings has been itching to harass Trump, but now, House Speaker Mike Johnson and the rest of the GOP are prepared to pull the plug on this legal grandstanding.
Mike Johnson has made it clear that the GOP’s mission is to curb the abuses emanating from Jack Smith’s office. The ridiculous prosecutions tied to the handling of classified documents and the spun narrative of overturning the 2020 election are blatant examples of a weaponized judicial system out to get Trump. The Speaker has rightfully condemned these actions as coordinated political hit jobs designed to derail Trump’s campaign ahead of 2024.
House Republicans are also pushing forward the Defense, Homeland Security, and state and foreign operations bills, racing to get them squared away before the August recess hits. They’ve got a tall order ahead with over 800 amendments filed, covering everything from immigration and abortion to environmental regulations and diversity policies. Expect a knockdown, drag-out fight with Democrats, who will predictably balk at any legislation that doesn’t align with their woke agenda.
Among the most satisfying amendments is the proposal to slash the salaries of President Biden’s top cronies—Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Homeland Security’s Alejandro Mayorkas—to a symbolic $1. Even if these spending bills squeak through the House, Senate Democrats are poised to throw a wrench in the works, likely dragging out this fiscal showdown until America decides who will lead in 2025. But one thing is clear: Republicans are hitting back, and they’re not backing down.
