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Mr. Buck, one of three House Republicans who voted to reject the articles of impeachment, said Wednesday that he had not led until that moment, even though he had publicly declared his opposition to the articles of impeachment well before the vote. He said he had not heard from anyone in the department. (Louisiana House Speaker Mike Johnson, a senior leadership aide familiar with his advocacy efforts, said he, like others mentioned in this story, spoke candidly on condition of anonymity. I spent enough time working with others who were against it. )
“Chairman Johnson never called me,” Buck said. “[Former speaker Kevin McCarthy] I would have screamed — Mike knows me well enough not to yell.and [former speaker John A.] Beyner would have broken his arm. It has gotten easier since he came here. ”
The surprise defeat surprised many in the House Republican conference, who could not believe that Mr. Johnson would roll the dice on such an important vote. The development is the latest in a tenure marred by confusion and frustration, with inexperienced leaders overseeing an unwieldy conference that even Republicans acknowledge may be impossible to corral. He is starting to lose patience with lawmakers who he feels have made a tactical mistake.
The House Republican conference’s dysfunction is matched only by the Senate Republican conference. Republicans this week rejected a border security bill that a small group of senators have been negotiating for months after House Republicans telegraphed that the Republican conference, and by extension former President Donald Trump’s far-right wing, would not support the bill. was disabled.
With Republican leadership’s shaky control over the conference, Democrats are weighing whether the House can avoid another government shutdown ahead of a March 1 deadline and Congress abandoning a key wartime ally of the United States. I am concerned that this may be the case.
The turmoil plaguing the Republican Party in Congress is intensifying as President Trump tightens his grip on the Republican Party in an effort to prevent him from winning the Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have applied dramatically different approaches to Mr. Trump, with Mr. Johnson aligned with the former president and Mr. McConnell He keeps a cool distance. But President Trump’s influence has minimized their credibility and influence over their colleagues. Some member states also became concerned that the new leadership vacuum and lack of governance capacity would be politically costly.
“That was a real blunder,” one House Republican said Wednesday of Johnson’s decision to take the Mayorkas vote on the floor and then vote against passing $17.6 billion in aid to Israel. Ta. “You combine that with what’s going on right now, the whole immigration issue in the Senate. … The way these things are being handled, this is an opportunity for the White House … to dump this into our laps, and it’s a big It could be a political mistake.”
Similar sentiments were echoed later in the day in the Senate after a controversial Republican closed-door luncheon, where Republicans lamented the political turmoil that has engulfed them.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) told reporters how the Republican leadership handled the border bill, declaring it “an utter disaster.” “Why would voters look at what’s going on here, this circus, and say, we want more of this? … I don’t think we’ve seen a worse response from a leadership standpoint over the last three months. ”
Senate Republicans tend to see themselves as a more deliberative and efficient legislative body, but in recent months they have looked more like their rowdy House Republicans. Failing to deliver on key promises, the party has become increasingly reliant on far-right factions. .as President Trump and conservative commentators denounced the border deal, which would be the first significant action by Congress on immigration in decades, but Senate Republicans quickly criticized his fellow top Republican negotiator. They pulled the rug out from under one Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D.M.) said, “I’ve often said that the Senate is very different from the House, with more Republican realists, people who want to do the right thing for national security.” Stated. “We don’t know if that’s going to be the case after this week, so we don’t know where we go from here.”
In an angry floor speech ahead of the vote, Lankford said he was disappointed that some of his colleagues had decided not to try to resolve the border crisis simply because it was a presidential election year. Ta. Lankford also said that a “popular commentator” had threatened to “do whatever it takes to destroy you if you try to pass legislation to resolve the border crisis during this presidential year.”
This double implosion dealt a blow to McConnell’s reputation as a shrewd political manager and to Johnson’s efforts to establish himself as a trusted and authoritative leader.
Prime Minister Johnson addressed his decision to vote on the impeachment resolution at a press conference Wednesday morning, saying, “When you’re counting votes and people show up at a time when they’re not supposed to be in the building, it changes the equation.” There are times when it can happen,” he said. But some House Republicans argued that such a string of rejections would not have happened under Mr. McCarthy (R-Calif.). They also criticized Mr Johnson’s team for not building a stronger operation to rally members around various bills.
“In general, when you’re about to fail, you don’t leave things on the floor, especially building momentum behind it and holding a press conference and talking about it,” said Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio). Especially when it comes to speaking,” he said. .
A senior leadership aide pushed back against some members praising Mr. McCarthy, insisting that “the meeting was and continues to be challenging for Mr. McCarthy.” There’s a lot of unpredictability, so it’s hard to use the whip to win close votes. ”
The leadership challenge became clear to some lawmakers during Monday’s meeting when Johnson confidently declared that Republicans only needed to persuade one more colleague before a successful impeachment vote. became. Emmer interjected, telling speakers he would talk about the number of whips later, suggesting to several people in the room that the leadership was not on the same page about the outcome of the vote.
A senior leadership aide said Mr. Emmer did not want to engage in a debate about the number of whips in front of a large group of members, fearing private conversations would be leaked. But some members privately wonder why Mr. Johnson was unaware that several Republicans (up to five at the time) were considering how to vote, and why he still insists on rushing the vote. I was wondering.
“Our leadership team is aware of all possible scenarios, and I support Chairman Johnson’s decision to move forward with the vote. I look forward to addressing this issue next week,” said Emmer, R-S.C. , Minnesota) in a statement to The Washington Post.
It was a particular blow to Mr. McConnell, given that only four Senate Republicans voted Wednesday for the sweeping national security and border package that his staff helped negotiate. Mr. McConnell, who has made support for Ukraine and U.S. involvement in NATO a core issue, said the issue is unpopular among many in the Republican base and that Mr. Johnson won’t pass it without strong border changes. are struggling to find a way to deliver their votes, given what they claim. attached. As President Trump’s criticism of the deal grew, so did dissatisfaction within the chamber, with some members complaining that Mr. McConnell was steering them into conflict with the presidential candidates.
“How do we get into this situation where the American people are supporting us in securing our borders, and now we’re being held accountable?” said Sen. Ron Johnson, a longtime critic of McConnell. Congressman (Republican, Wisconsin) says: “The only reason we’re in that situation is because [situation] That’s because Mitch McConnell told us straight up, ignoring the many arguments in the conference that he shouldn’t do it. ”
Mr. McConnell defended himself in a recent interview with Politico, saying that only a small number of people “have a chance” of ousting him in 2022, having overcome a leadership challenge from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). He said there will always be critics.
Legislation during presidential elections is often difficult, depending on who holds the majority on Capitol Hill. Leaders tend to postpone major legislation or politically risky decisions. But productivity levels in the 118th Congress were historically low, with only 29 of his bills passed by Congress last year and signed into law. There is also little expectation of a flurry of activity heading into November, as lawmakers are delayed in their most basic responsibilities, such as completing last year’s appropriations.
After passing the third extraordinary spending bill in four months to keep the federal government running at the end of January, lawmakers need to avoid another government shutdown. There is no clear plan for how to fund the government after that, and with the Senate soon to be out of town for two weeks and the House of Representatives in session for the remaining eight days this month, there is limited time to negotiate a package.
“Although the number of laws passed in 2023 was very low, things look a little worse when you consider what Congress should be doing but isn’t doing.”Bipartisan Brookings Institution said Molly Reynolds, senior researcher at . “In the current environment, there is little to suggest we will see any activity between now and November.”
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