He’s having trouble controlling all the different factions of Republicans and is definitely not having fun with it. They are shooting off left, right, and center, not getting anything done except, as was found out earlier, passing a War Powers Resolution that still has to go through the Senate. He’s running out of time before midterms. He’s getting hit with demands but not negotiation. With respect for Raw Story:
Noting the massive disparity in working days between the US Senate under Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and the GOP-controlled House laboring under embattled Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Politico is reporting that time is growing short to get legislation — any legislation — voted upon. According to Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill and Calen Razor, Johnson’s inability to get all of the factions in his caucus on the same page has led to postponed votes, which have prompted GOP lawmakers to stay home and prepare for a bruising midterm.
Yeah, there are some egos in some factions he has to handle. That can’t be easy. And with time growing short, those egos are getting louder and louder with their demands. This is turning into a fiasco for Johnson because it’s all trouble, all the time. It seems he can’t catch a break. That’s an unfair thing to pull on him. They can’t agree on legislation, and the GOP majority is very slim.
The contrast is stark: while Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s chamber maintains a robust schedule, the House under Johnson has become increasingly dysfunctional, with Republican leaders repeatedly canceling votes to avoid the humiliation of failed floor votes. The strategy has backfired spectacularly, Politico is reporting. With only 38 scheduled legislative days remaining before Election Day, GOP lawmakers are opting to stay home rather than return to Washington for votes that Johnson’s leadership cannot guarantee will succeed.
Gee, ya think??!! Johnson was playing fast and loose even last year because he didn’t want to swear in a new House member to get the final vote for the Epstein law, which, I will point out, has not been completely accomplished by the DoJ. Did they clobber Blanche for that when he came in to answer questions? Hopefully, they did. But Johnson has a problem where he can’t count on his people all voting together, or voting, period. The Democrats are being much stronger than the GOP.
According to the report, Tuesday was supposed to mark the start of a productive legislative week, with House members returning from the weekend to pass a slate of bipartisan bills. Instead, the chamber sat nearly empty after Republican leaders postponed the scheduled votes. “Even if one or two members are missing, it can derail a whole week of floor plans,” one senior GOP aide granted anonymity to discuss the majority’s challenges told Politico. As the speaker struggled through that final May session day, the sentiment among House Republicans was unmistakable. “We just gotta get out of here,” one senior House Republican was heard to mutter.
No, we’re not supposed to feel sorry for Speaker Johnson. But he has a tough time getting things done because his people are so fractured into smaller groups that can’t agree on anything. It would be galling for them to ask Democrats to help pass something. When, darn it, *when* we flip the house, the same possibility is there. We haven’t heard much about any Democrat caucuses splintering off since we’re in the majority. It does seem, except for Fetterman, that generally we are of one mind, at least for now. Who knows what could happen?
See you tomorrow!
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