Here we go again. The House Republicans are running around in circles, unable to agree among themselves about what they were sent to Washington to do and we are once again on the cusp of a government shutdown. No matter who's in charge or what the circumstances are, they just can't get anything done. And for some reason, they believe this is a winning election year strategy.
The week started on a hopeful note. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had agreed on a top-line budget number. This seemed to signal that Johnson and his team were serious negotiators who might be able to avoid a government shutdown. Of course, the framework was already in place from the deal struck last spring between then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden to raise the debt ceiling. But it still spoke well of McCarthy's successor that he could be practical enough to recognize that he was going to have to negotiate.
The MAGA extremists are talking about ousting Johnson as they did McCarthy.
The MAGA crazies on the far right had rejected that bipartisan deal at the time and it was passed with Democratic votes, eventually bringing about McCarthy's ouster in October when he once again was forced to rely on Democratic votes to pass a temporary funding extension to keep the government open. Johnson had a little honeymoon that allowed him to pass another short-term spending bill without being defenestrated by the crazy caucus. Buyt unfortunately for him and the country, that honeymoon is over.
After announcing the top-line spending deal that would have set the levels until September 30th, everyone understood that it was still going to take a lot of work to agree on the details and that would require yet another short-term extension. Yet the MAGA hardliners in Congress are a hard no on all of it.
Johnson is a hardliner himself so you would think he'd know how this was going to go over. He seems to think that by "listening" and having "thoughtful conversations" he would have enough credibility with the Freedom Caucus that they would go along. He thought he could tell them "I think it’s the best possible deal that conservatives and Republicans could get under these circumstances" and that would be that. Is he living in a dream world?
He must know that they truly believe that if they shut down the government the Democrats will throw up their hands in surrender and give them everything they want. And if they don't, the Democrats will all be defeated in November because the government will have been shut down for 10 months, the economy will be in ruins and they will be blamed. In Republicans' addled minds, it's a win-win either way.
Needless to say, that is irrational nihilism but that's who they are. According to the Washington Post, conservatives in the House want Johnson to renege on the funding agreement and go back to the Senate with their new top line number, destroying any credibility he has with the Senate and the White House. The Freedom Caucus must also be given a say in how any funding is allocated, which is the Appropriations Committee's job or there must be a 1% cut across the board. Oh, and they also demand new draconian immigration restrictions before they will agree to any short-term spending bill.
After a meeting on Thursday morning between Johnson and the rebels, the members emerged saying that Johnson was with them. Johnson disagreed, telling reporters, he's made "no commitments" — and that "if you hear otherwise, it's just simply not true." Nobody really knows what Johnson is doing. It's a mess:
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The MAGA extremists are talking about ousting him as they did McCarthy.
Don't tell anyone but with their tiny majority, there's a good chance that if they do this we'll be looking at a Speaker Hakim Jeffries, D- NY. Somebody may just crack.
In case you're wondering why these zealots think this is such a good idea and that it's going to work for them, look no further than the "intellectual leader" of the MAGA cult, Steve Bannon. Media Matters reported that he has begun an effort to oust Johnson after having successfully led the effort to depose Kevin McCarthy in October. They report that "although Bannon and his guests have been criticizing Johnson since November — just weeks into the new speaker’s tenure — the attacks have escalated in recent days."
On Thursday, Bannon interviewed Russell Vought, one of the new MAGA gurus who is working on all those dystopian plans for Trump's second term at the MAGA "think tank" Center for Renewing America, who told him “I am one of the biggest critics of Mike Johnson right now. He is bowing to the fear of a government shutdown within his own ranks. I think he should stand up to that fear like, Congresswoman Greene would have him do, but he's not.”
Vought is said to be very influential in Trump's inner circle which may explain why Johnson told Hugh Hewitt he was planning to talk to Trump about this situation but Trump has been a little busy. If Johnson's counting on Trump's support he should probably have a chat with his predecessor who did everything in his power to curry favor with the Dear Leader and it did him no good at all when push came to shove. Trump has always been for a government shutdown.
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Perhaps the most ominous part of Vought's comment is the fact that he extolled the virtues of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is asserting her power as a MAGA leader. Media Matters reports that she also appeared with Bannon on Thursday and said,
If I was speaker of the House, I’d finish the job in the House. I’d pass the appropriation bills, and then I’d tell Chuck Schumer in the Senate, ‘It’s your job now, buddy. You do your work and then we’ll talk.’ But right now, Mike Johnson is getting rolled in meeting after meeting after meeting.
When he is talking to Jake Sullivan and Chuck Schumer every day and impressed with these four corners meetings, but he's not talking to me and other important members in our Republican conference at all about any of the negotiations and any of the plans and exactly what we want to see done, he's failing on the job."
She certainly sounds like someone who thinks she's the right woman for the job, doesn't she? I suspect that there are more than a few Republican House members who would happily vote for Hakim Jeffries over Greene. But you never know. The House Republicans have been infected with MAGA fever and there doesn't seem to be a cure.
Time will tell if Mike Johnson can corral these rebels, keep the government open and hold his seat. But the pressure from the MAGA base, incited by Steve Bannon and others, to blow up the system is going to be relentless. They've tasted the power that comes from deposing a leader and they want more. The only thing that will stop them is the loss of their majority. If there is any justice in this world, that will happen next November. Until then, it's going to be a very turbulent time in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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