Staff Reports
The tweed jacket wearing, conservative leading man, Speaker Mike Johnson, is standing firm in his position after he used his trusty gavel to break a tie vote against eliminating the deep state’s unauthorized spying on Americans. And let’s not overlook the fact that Johnson is rushing down south to Mar-a-Lago to chat it up with former President Donald Trump, taking a chance that maybe, just maybe, Trump will toss him a lifeline.
But alas, the tides for Johnson are turning rougher than an old leather saddle in a rainstorm. He’s under the microscope for flubbing on important policies left and right. And to add more feathers to his hat, he plans to team up with Trump to push a bill aimed at shielding American elections from illegal aliens’ interlopement. Word on the street is, this proposal is about as serious as a clown at a funeral, and there’s no way it’ll come close to making a splash in the Senate. The Trump-aligned higher-ups aren’t too keen on Johnson’s maneuver, to say the least. They’re about as riled up as a hornet that just got its nest kicked.
This is how the Constitution dies.
By a tie vote, the amendment to require a warrant to spy on Americans goes down in flames.
This is a sad day for America.
The Speaker doesn’t always vote in the House, but he was the tie breaker today. He voted against warrants. pic.twitter.com/i49GnCzyPm
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 12, 2024
If you ask Raj Shah, the Speaker’s frontman, if Johnson is thinking of throwing in the towel, you’ll get a resounding “No.” speakers’ aides have a habit of sticking to their guns when the going gets tough. Just ask John Boehner’s team from back in the day. They swore up and down the night before Boehner stepped down that he wasn’t going anywhere. And what do you know? The very next day, Boehner was out like a light.
But Johnson’s got more than just a run-of-the-mill headache on his hands. From lackluster cash flow in the early part of his term to fumbling the ball on government funding, to signing off on additional foreign aid to countries like Ukraine, the Speaker has been making enough missteps to make a newborn calf look like it’s dancing a jig. And the cherry on top? He’s got a way slimmer margin than Boehner ever did, and he’s got a Republican stoking the fires to possibly give him the boot.
The conservatives from all corners of the House GOP, from Thomas Massie to Greg Steube and then some, are giving Johnson a piece of their minds after he broke the tie vote on the renewal package for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, opting not to require federal law enforcers to get a warrant before poking around in Americans’ business. Massie even went so far as to liken Johnson’s move to torching the U.S. Constitution. And to top it off, staffers from Johnson’s camp are arguing that Johnson’s not the final say on this, simply because he cast his vote before Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks did. Talk about a dog chasing its tail.
While Johnson’s future is about as clear as mud, his prospects of sticking around might just hinge on the fact that there ain’t nobody else who can step up to the plate. Everyone else who’s tried to fill the Speaker’s shoes has already failed. And to throw some more kindling on the fire, if Republicans oust Johnson, it might just backfire, handing the House back to the Democrats before the upcoming election. Sure, some Republicans have been grumbling that the current House leadership isn’t all that different from what the Dems would bring, and they’re thinking it might be wise to take a break from the wheel for a bit.
But hold onto your hats, folks, because the chaos stirring amongst the House Republicans won’t make winning or adding to their majority in November any easier. On the bright side, the battleground districts are leaning heavily in favor of the GOP, so all hope isn’t lost.
And last but not least, all eyes are on how Trump will handle this circus. Whether he wraps his arms around Johnson or skedaddles from his slip-ups like a cat on a hot tin roof can make or break Johnson’s future. The show’s set to play out soon, and while Trump’s focus is on reclaiming the White House, Johnson’s klutzy moves might just end up being a lead weight Trump doesn’t need.
