He could tack to full on appeasing the MAGAts. He’s done and said nothing that makes me think him incapable of it.
More bad news for Mike: GOP Rep. Bill Johnson is resigning effective January 21 to take over as president at Youngstown State University. With the vacancies caused by Santos’ expulsion and McCarthy’s resignation, this means Republicans can lose just TWO votes and still pass legislation (if Democrats are unified against).
Again, this is all happening as a government shutdown is a little over two weeks away.
Of course, it requires the Republicans to want to pass legislation, something they don’t seem to be inclined to do in this Congress.
It’s like you hate your brother-in-law, but you talk your sister into making him hire you to work at his store, and he has to do it to please his wife. Then you intentionally slack off and sabotage things and he can’t fire you. And you crow about how bad a manager he is because look at all the problems at the store (that you caused).
Gabby Johnson would be so disappointed.
Is Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) implicated in any of the fake elector investigations. Asking because I am wildly suspicious.
Get your popcorn ready – Johnson cut a deal with Schumer to fund the government that doesn’t include the drastic cuts FC members have demanded.
I’m impressed and utterly amazed that Johnson made that deal. Compromises in what the Post reported exist to appease - and to enrage - both sides. That is the definition of a deal, and also of politics itself. (I’m enraged personally by some of the cuts.)
I literally cannot force myself to believe that the Freedom Caucus will accept this. The test of Johnson as a Speaker starts right now. Can he - has he - found sufficient members of his party to back the deal in consort with Democrats so that it will pass? Or will the hard-liners throw a tantrum large enough to derail the bill?
Grab the popcorn? No. I will hate every minute of the upcoming freakout.
So am I. It makes him look competent.
Me either. This should help the government function which is the last thing they want.
If I’m not mistaken only 2 or 3 (4?) Republican votes would be needed if all the democrats vote for the deal
The Freedom Caucus cannot stop this bill if Johnson brings it to the floor – it will pass overwhelmingly with near unanimous Democratic support and a large number of Republicans.
And then all it takes is one FC member to file a motion to vacate the chair and we’re back to October.
When McCarthy was elected Speaker, it included a provision that any Republican member could call for a vote to remove him. When he made a compromise on funding, the vote was called for (was it Gaetz? I don’t remember.) and he lost the speakership.
Now Mike Johnson is faced with the same situation, except I don’t know if that provision to remove him is still in place. It’s possible that the Freedom Circus thought they were getting one of their own in the speakership and so didn’t insist on an easy mechanism to vote him out.
The rules have not changed. Any one Representative can introduce a motion to vacate the chair, and it must be voted on within two legislative days.
And you need (currently) a majority of those present and voting to defeat the motion to vacate. If everybody votes and the Dems insist as last time to NOT save the Speaker, it takes as few as 4 R’s voting to vacate.
That nobody in the “mainstream” took the chaos goblins out to the back alley and put them in their place on the first go-around tells us all we need about the status of the Republican conference.
.
I would not be surprised if the Jeffries cut a deal when they worked out this compromise, that if they got something that both sides could barely tolerate, that if a new vacate motion came along, that they’d vote present or abstain or otherwise register a non-vote. Not to support Johnson, but to preserve a working relationship as it were.
Because it gives Democrats leverage, and a speak whom they certainly dislike, but can be used to keep the government running.
Of course, the Chaos Caucus can and may still do everything ELSE in their power to crap the bed, and in the end, Johnson may still be forced out, but I’d bet against it for the short term. Too much going on to support another few weeks of gridlock with damn few candidates that could wrangle a majority of the current MAGApublican party with their slimmer-than-usual margins.
On the gripping hand, at this point, I have a nihilistic desire to see the whole thing burn. I’m long past the point where we thought a few “stay-bought” style Republicans would work for a compromise candidate - and this close to new elections, see it as even more unlikely.
Feels like it would be a huge mistake to let McCarthy get ousted and then save Johnson. Unless the dems now think letting McCarthy get ousted was a mistake on their part for whatever reason it seems like they should stay the course.
Not to preserve a working relationship, but to keep the government funded. They’re never going to have a constructive working relationship with Johnson beyond this, regardless.
“Curse your sudden yet inevitable betrayal!” That’s what the Freedom Circus will say. They can’t have believed he’d stay bought, could they?
Even with this agreement on the top line amounts, we’re still probably going to need a continuing resolution to fund the government past January 19. The appropriators still need to write the actual bills, and there’s sure to be fights over policy riders and specific funding decisions.
Can/will Johnson get a CR passed? Inquiring minds want to know!
I don’t think it was a mistake to let McCarthy get ousted. But the fact that the Republicans were so crippled by infighting to the point that they almost couldn’t manage a new speaker, along with the ongoing funding and investigation circus may have proven that there isn’t a point in doing it AGAIN this soon. And Johnson may have demanded it behind closed doors as well.
You’re right, and that’s what I meant by “working relationship”. But I wasn’t explicit. To be clear, there is no way in hell I’d expect a cooperative relationship between the sides these days, much less substantial bipartisan support. My standards have dropped, but the old language remains. I did try to make it clearer a bit later: