It is hard to tell who needs what more.
Former President Trump or House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
It is too early to say whether Mr Trump will return or not. white House next January. But he’ll need help from Capitol Hill if he wants to get anything done.
And the hardest part is deciding which party might take control of the House. Johnson is almost certainly the favorite to remain speaker if Republicans take control of the House. But it’s all about math. Eleven Republicans voted with the effort led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in early May. Remove Johnson. That won’t work for Johnson if the GOP gains a slim majority. But an order issued by Trump, the presumptive president-elect, in January 2025 could save the day for Johnson if he has trouble garnering votes for speaker on Jan. 3 — the constitutionally mandated day for the start of the 119th Congress.
Speaker’s uproar in the House: ‘One dumpster fire at a time’
Photo of former President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson together. (Getty Images)
Former President Trump needs party unity, Fox has been told. That could be the key to legislative success if Mr Trump returns to the White House for the 2.0 launch.
He’ll need help from Hill.
Johnson traveled to Mar-a-Lago for the second time this week to meet with former President Trump. He brought with him Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). This is the organization dedicated to electing Republicans to the House.
“We’re not going to waste a moment. We’re going to put a very aggressive agenda in place to solve all of the major problems facing this country,” Johnson said ahead of his trip to southern Florida.
The meeting came just days after former President Trump met with House and Senate Republicans in separate meetings on both sides of Capitol Hill. It was the first time Mr Trump had ventured anywhere close to the Capitol since the riot three and a half years ago.
“Unity is strength and division is an invitation for your opponents to defeat you. So I think he sees the benefit of unity,” Senator John Cornyn, R-Tex., said of Mr. Trump.
It’s worth noting that Cornyn could serve as either majority or minority leader in the Senate next year. Current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellR-KY, has a tense relationship with former President Trump.
Measuring curtains? Unclear. But the former president and congressional Republicans are accelerating their 2025 legislative agenda.
“Securing the border!” said Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Florida, on Fox.
“We have to get energy costs down,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., declared on Fox.
“The world is a tinderbox,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said.
The former president is already making promises. Some of these won’t require Congress to act.
“On day one of my new administration, we will launch the largest deportation campaign in all of American history,” Mr Trump warned.
House Democratic leader calls Justice Alito an ‘enabler of insurrectionists’ amid flag controversy
Another priority is renewing the expiring Trump-era tax cuts.
Such a project would probably require Senate Use a special budgetary procedure to circumvent the filibuster. This is known as “reconciliation.” The Senate can use this parliamentary tool only on bills that are not directly related to policy — but focus on tax or fiscal issues. Senate Republicans used budget reconciliation to greenlight tax cuts in late 2017.
Budget reconciliation always requires that legislation approved under this special rule not increase the deficit. It is not clear how extending the tax cuts again would not increase the national debt. This might require some spectacular bookkeeping.
Still, if Republicans win, former President Trump is likely to get a slight majority in the House and Senate. So GOPers should stay united.
“(Former President Trump) and I talk often about the election cycle, and how we can accomplish the mission of restoring him to the White House and expanding the majority in the House and securing a Republican majority in the Senate,” Johnson said.
But critics say there is no agenda in it. It is just about former President Trump.
Former President Donald Trump will chair the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat on May 4, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)
“The Constitution doesn’t matter to them. None of that matters to them. The only thing that matters is the desire for power,” said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, D.C., who is running for the Senate.
Democrats are looking to align former President Trump with vulnerable Republicans who face competitive re-elections in battleground states or districts.
“He’s going to have to defend to the American people this approach that he’s taken over the next several months before November,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
“As November draws closer, Republicans are continuing to show the American people that they are actually with the MAGA extremists, not the majority of America,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
President Biden and the Democrats have already unveiled their election strategy. This year they will be contesting against three opponents: the Republicans. Former President Trump. And now, the Supreme Court.
That’s why Democrats are stepping up attacks on conservative Supreme Court justices because of the justices’ behavior and controversial decisions on guns and abortion.
Biden’s attorney general is firing back, while the Republican-led House considers contempt
“It appears that (Supreme Court) Justice (Samuel) Alito is an insurgent supporter, along with his right-wing friend (Supreme Court Justice) Clarence Thomas,” Jeffries claimed.
Democrats have accused Thomas and Alito of questionable ethics.
They criticize Thomas for taking lavish vacations on the dime of GOP megadonors.
“He did it 60 times. He was a vacationing devil. Oh, my God!” thundered Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., on the Senate floor.
The left is targeting Alito for flying controversial flags at his home.
“I believe the legacy of (Chief Justice John) Roberts’ Court will be one of unchecked corruption and complete politicization,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said.
Thomas’s lawyer says ethics rules don’t require him to report such trips — unless the donors have a connection to the court.
Alito says his wife waved the flags.
Republicans argue that Democrats’ complaints are actually a cover-up for what’s left.
“Democrats don’t like the fact that judges are making certain decisions,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
Liberal media and Democratic Party leaders have used the classic “Appeal to Heaven” flag from the colonial era to link Supreme Court Justice Alito to the January 6 insurrectionists. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Therefore, progressives are trying to curb the powers of the court.
“I’m all for term limits for members of Congress, senators, Supreme Court justices. Let’s bring some new blood into it,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
One Democrat has demanded that Chief Justice Roberts punish the fellow justices.
“He can say Justice Alito no longer writes majority opinions. He can say Justice Alito no longer presides over a circuit,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Republicans are stunned by these ultimatums.
“They want the Supreme Court to be beholden to Congress,” Cornyn said.
Top Republicans say the attacks are simply politics.
“It’s an election year. And they’re trying to make a lot of noise about nothing,” Johnson said.
But when it comes to electoral strategy, Democrats don’t seem to disagree.
“Since the fall of the presidency, Democrats have been contesting election after election. Roe vs. Wade “We’re winning in 2022,” Jeffries said.
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So, ahead of the election, former President Trump needs congressional Republicans. Those same Republican lawmakers need him. But Democrats have their own needs, too: former President Trump and the right-wing tilt of the Supreme Court.
