Mike Johnson May Be Speaker, but Democrats Run the House [View all]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/joan-mccarter/110123/mike-johnson-may-be-speaker-but-democrats-run-the-house

Mike Johnson May Be Speaker, but Democrats Run the House
by Joan McCarter | April 19, 2024 - 5:50am

— from Daily Kos


Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has laid it all on the table: He’s staking his speakership—and his cozy relationship with Donald Trump—on aid to Ukraine, and putting his fate in the hands of Democrats. Democrats, in turn, are not going to make it easy for him.

In an impassioned speech Wednesday, Johnson argued that getting aid to Ukraine was paramount, even if putting that bill on the floor will likely trigger a move to oust him. “This is a critical time right now, a critical time on the world stage,” Johnson said. “I can make a selfish decision and do something that’s different but I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing.”

He continued: “I think providing lethal aid to Ukraine right now is critically important. I really do. I really do believe the intel and the briefings that we’ve gotten. I believe Xi, Vladimir Putin and Iran really are an axis of evil. I think they’re in coordination on it.”

Democrats seized on that speech, with Rep. Rosa DeLauro, ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, quoting it Thursday morning in her opening testimony in the Rules Committee. And it’s that committee—and the Democrats on it—that will determine the success of Johnson’s plan. The bills cannot advance to the floor if the committee doesn’t approve them, and the controlling bloc of Republican votes—the three extremists, Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, and Thomas Massie—on that committee have already said they will oppose it.

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Democrats have no need to give any promises to Johnson at this point, especially when they hold the card of being able to force the vote on the Senate bill with a discharge petition.