House Crazies Mad At Johnson Might Have Less Power Now

House Republicans, at least the crazies in the Freedom Caucus and some MAGA-Lite types who aren’t are mad at Speaker Mike Johnson these days. Whether they can do anything about it is suddenly open to question. In fact, there are indications the influence of that handful of batsh*t insane subset of the “Free-Dumb” Caucus’ power might be waning!

These a$$hats have made such a mess of the House since the current Congress convened. From the days of failed votes to finally allow Kevin McCarthy to wield the Speaker’s Gavel, to engineering his ouster, then the embarrassment of a couple of failed candidacies before handing the gavel to then unknown Mike Johnson this handful of crazies has mucked things up due to a provision they forced on McCarthy – a rule that a single member could file a motion to Vacate the Chair. FIRE the Speaker. They threatened McCarthy into submission and compromise repeatedly before finally tossing him aside.

Although he denied it ahead of time, “Gym” HE GROPED ME COACH! Jordon wanted the job of Speaker and that’s who the crazies hoped to hand the gavel to. Steve Scalise never had a chance. That much is clear in retrospect. He had the gravitas to, IF he chose to stare them down and refuse to lead us into a govt. shutdown as he knew the damage it would do to the GOP in the long-term. But Jordan? Hell, we might STILL be in a shutdown had he become Speaker. However that too fell apart. That was just too extreme for too many House GOPers so we got Mike Johnson who is as extreme as any of them. Just a lot more mild mannered.  In his suit and glasses he’s Clark Kent but underneath lurked “The Incredible SuperMAGA Hulk.” Or so he and the rest of the crazies thought.

As it turns out Johnson is in fact extreme, but not politically suicidal or genocidal to the GOP. He has at the last minute found ways to avert a shutdown which has mightily pissed off the crazies. But he HAS gone along with much of the program. Holding up aid for Ukraine in particular. Then, when Trump ordered the bill that included that and a fix for the border that REPUBLICANS demanded and got damned near everything they wanted added into aid for Ukraine (and Israel and Taiwan) killed Johnson spiked it. But there’s still the matter of the budget and keeping the govt. open and running at full capacity, in large measure under the terms McCarthy had negotiated last year. And which led to his ouster.

So, the crazies have been threatening Johnson with the same weapon they used on McCarthy – a motion to Vacate the Chair. However, according to NBC News that particular weapon might not be loaded anymore. Or would “misfire” if they pulled the trigger.  The article describes Freedom Caucus members (and others) being furious over passage of one set of funding bills last week. (And there are signs the rest will get passed too) However, while grousing about him becoming an enabler of the “status quo” what’s NOT being talked about is removing him as Speaker. Instead, there’s merely public and pointed criticism:

House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., has blasted the first of two funding packages and said he doesn’t expect a better deal in the second one, which must pass by March 22 to avoid a partial government shutdown.

“Because the speaker doesn’t want to do that. He just wants to pass what the Senate wants so that we avoid any conflict,” Good told NBC News, saying that Johnson, R-La., wants to “join hands with the Dems” to “increase spending” and yield “no policy wins.”

Good goes on to complain about Johnson not being willing to say “no” to the Senate and whining about no matter what they offer the Speaker it doesn’t matter and falls on deaf ears. However when asked what he and others on the right can do about instead of tossing Johnson aside he stops short, saying “I’m open to ideas.” Interesting. Then there’s this:

When asked pointedly if that includes a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair, Good, one of eight Republicans who used the tool to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, ended the conversation. “Thank you,” he replied.

The linked article continues, and discusses the notion that a reality might well be taking hold among the Crazy Caucus that they simply don’t have the power they once had. Sure it says, some of them still believe they can impose their extremism on the entire GOP caucus but now know there are many who don’t want to go along with extreme spending cuts and the burn it down if we have to to get what we want agenda. Although not characterized as such by the linked article, one can easily imagine an almost wistful tone from the crazies, as in a sadness about their best days being behind them. Comments to the effect that at this point NO Speaker can do much seems to be to reinforce that.

Chip Roy is a name you’re familiar with. He’s the guy from Texas who thundered at his colleagues about Republicans having no accomplishments to run on! (He’s right, there’s nothing positive where they can be seen as taking the lead) He too is angry about the bills passed last week, and expects the rest will be too, calling them “garbage.”  He instead talks about “business as usual” and modest progress towards a more normal process (a good thing actually) in the process of developing legislation. Still:

But when asked if he blames Johnson, Roy said, “I think the speaker reflects a conference that likes to give lip service to fiscal restraint and refuses to act on it. That’s what I think.”

As for a motion to vacate? Roy isn’t going there: “I think it’s a tool that should always be on the table, as an historical matter. I think it should be sparingly used. … I think we need to just keep working forward to try to get somewhere.”

One of Roy’s fellow Texans, Rep. Nehis (who wore a Trump t-shirt under  his jacket at the SOTU) summed things up bluntly about why it’s unlikely Johnson has to worry about getting replaced – nobody wants the job:

“Let’s just go down to Disney and see if Daffy Duck or maybe Goofy would want the job,” Nehls said. “Maybe Mickey! Maybe Mickey would want the job.”

Colorful to be sure, but it probably hits closer to home than many House GOPers want to admit. He and others aren’t alone in thinking it’s impractical at this point to replace Johnson. Hell, there is some effort to start rationalizing keeping him by deflecting blame for having to swallow prideful ambitions and get on with funding the govt. and other business:

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., another Freedom Caucus member, doesn’t blame Johnson for spending bills he dubbed “irresponsible,” and said that a motion to vacate isn’t on the table.

“He inherited a lot of this. No, I don’t blame him,” Norman said. “It’s like herding cats up here.”

Although not discussed in the linked article there are these facts. House Republicans know they are in deep trouble and will have a helluva time retaining control. They (and Trump) forced almost twenty members (over a dozen of them first timers) from Districts Biden carried in 2020 into votes they’ll have a hard time defending in November. Probably half of them are toast and that’s the ballgame right there. Others are in districts that might be vulnerable if it turns out to be even a modest “wave” election. That’s why they have been returning to their districts to take credit for projects they voted against. There’s something else as well.

I like to point out that no matter how bad things seem they can always get worse. The current House GOP has made itself look really bad. They have been Yosemite Sam shooting themselves in the foot over and over. I’ve already noted the “bigly” public humiliation they put themselves through with the election of McCarthy, and then Johnson as Speaker. A THIRD round of it would in fact make them look even worse and they know it. Even the craziest of the crazies.

Except maybe MTG who is still saying if Johnson allows a Ukraine aid vote she’ll drop a motion to Vacate. We’ll see. I can actually (go ahead and call ME crazy on this one) some of her colleagues hoping she will. Only to have a strong majority of her colleagues slap her down to vote against her. If Democrats join en masse it would be AWESOME for Green to go down in flames with four hundred plus voting to keep Johnson as Speaker. And in return you can bet Leader Jeffries would get some concessions of  his own!  Ok, I  have weird fantasies.

What matters though is that it really does seem increasingly unlikely Johnson will be replaced as Speaker. That doesn’t mean the House, or more precisely the GOP half of it will become normal. However, it the threat to Vacate the Chair is (or already has) become a hollow one we might be able to muddle through without too much more damage until the new Congress, one controlled by Democrats convenes next January.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll settle for that.