Does Moses Mikey Johnson WANT to lose the Speaker’s Gavel? I get that it’s Trump’s GOP and Johnson doesn’t need Trump turning on him. However he only was re-elected Speaker because the House has an even thinner majority than it did when the last Congress adjourned. There was no viable alternative at a time when the GOP needed to project some unity. With Democrats making it clear they weren’t going to provide a single vote for Johnson even Trumpty knew to start making calls. And he managed for a moment to get House Republicans to fall in line. The underlying problems, the cracks in the GOP Caucus remain and Johnson opened a new one this week. The political equivalent of shooting himself in a place rather more tender than one’s foot!
As this article from Raw Story tells us
Johnson’s out-of-the-blue replacing Mike Turner (Ohio) as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee isn’t going over well. In fact Turner isn’t the only one pissed, or at least thinking Johnson’s word isn’t worth jack-sh*t. That he can’t be trusted any further than they can throw the entire U.S. Capitol building. Johnson was already facing major battles that will threaten his hold on the Gavel. Now he’s gone and made it worse. To please Trump, for the moment at least. However Turner was deeply loyal to Johnson and Johnson just threw him under the bus. I know if I were part of that caucus I’d be looking around and quietly talking about finding someone else to be Speaker.
Now, it’s been a busy week in the news. This story was reported but between Biden’s farewell address, Trump’s Inauguration and the flurry of Senate hearings for Trump’s Cabinet it kind of got lost. However come next week after the dust of Inauguration Day settles it’s going to suddenly matter a great deal. Turner was a staunch and public advocate of continued support for Ukraine. AND openly critical of Vladimir Putin. For Trump two strikes, at least those two are enough to want Turner stripped of power and therefore influence. Trumpty might not have thought this through however because as I said Turner isn’t the only one fuming about what’s happened.
According to Fox News reporter Chad Pergram Speaker Johnson “ignited a firestorm” by his sudden stripping of the gavel from Turner:
He added that allies of Turner “fumed privately,” with one saying Johnson treated Turner “so badly that he’s, ‘never going to vote for another blanking thing around here again.'”
“Mike’s never going to vote for another f—ing thing around here again,” a House Republican told Pergram. “He’s mad.”
The Republicans Against Trump account posted a clip of Pergram’s report on X Friday, noting: “Turner has missed all House votes in the last 48 hours.”
I’m sure Turner will partially shake off what happened to him and at least start showing up for crucial votes on things that matter to him. However if he’s on the fence about something and Johnson tries to “whip” his vote it would be fun to be a fly on the wall for THAT conversation. I suspect Moses Mikey’s ears will be scorched by various quaint ‘anatomical impossibilities’ (i.e. “Go f**k yourself”) Turner will spit out at him! Given how thin the GOP majority is that’s bad, but as I’ve pointed out Turner isn’t the only one upset with Johnson. Johnson’s promises to ‘take care of them’ will hold as much water as a slotted spoon.
Well, that’s what The Trump Network Fox has reported. The linked Raw Story article also states the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote a “scorching editorial” about Johnson “capitulating to Trump’s whims” that includes:
“Mr. Turner has been one of Mr. Johnson’s main supporters in the GOP conference, so the Speaker is sending the wrong message about the rewards of loyalty. It’s one thing for the Speaker to let Mr. Trump dictate to him on policy. But control over House leadership should be the Speaker’s prerogative,” said the board, “His ouster of Mr. Turner is a sign of weakness.”
I know it’s late Friday night and we’ve all had a helluva week. I’m exhausted and about to call it a night. Still, I hope those who live west of me are still online, and those in my time zone will check this out in the morning. This could be very big news as early as next week because of Ukraine. Also, while we’ll all be watching Senate confirmation hearings there are those other matters that Trump wants to get out of the way quickly.
In both chambers there is disagreement on whether to give Trump his single ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ that includes a debt ceiling increase or to break it up. Johnson was already highly unlikely to be able to give Trump what he wanted. Now he’ll be even less so. Johnson is going to have to cut some kind of deal with Hakeem Jeffries to get Democrats to vote some hugely important legislation through. That was always going to be the case. Now Jeffries hand has been strengthened and the House might well (again!) go into meltdown mode. And then there’s the Senate which has its own ideas.
Times are dark (and freaking COLD) to be sure but things are not only about to heat up big time, if WE keep our heads in the game and fight we might severely limit the damage that Trump can do.
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Loyalty amongst thieves, liars, morons, and hypocrites? Thanks for the chuckle.
Methinks that “loyalty” phrase may need to get overworked in the coming four years. Goodie!!!
This is what would be “grab the popcorn” fun if we weren’t talking about the destruction of our nation! President(s)-elect Mump falsely claim to have a mandate and, suddenly, Mikey thinks his Speakership has a mandate! I don’t expect humility from Mump, but remember when even faux xtians exhibited a measure of performative humility? Mikey holds the Speakership by a thread. In his god’s name, he should act like it!