A lot of pundits and establishment (or American First-lite) talking heads are grousing and condemning fiscal hawks in the House of Representatives for not going along with Speaker Johnson's re-election bid for Speaker of the House.
I agree with them.
There is no way that the current conference is prepared to deliver on the promises that Trump outlined in his 2024 campaign.
It's bad enough that Trump has a mixed record from his first term. Will he double down on half measures, or will he get the job done?
At any rate, there are typical talking points abounding that the whole effort to prolong the Speakership battle is a waste of time, will embarrass the GOP conference, could lead to a more liberal Speaker, and could even delay President Trump's inauguration because if the House is not organized, they cannot tally the Electoral Votes to award President-elect Trump and VP-Elect Vance their offices.
I am skeptical of all this fearmongering, of course.
The Speakership race is essential for the true conservatives, America First in Word and Deed, to make their case and put their mark on the House.
Rep. Thomas Massie provided a sound set of arguments to push back on the MAGA-Establishment fearmongering and shame-blaming:
As I provide his above statement in full, I will add my commentary:
First, let me
note that the “vote for Mike” camp is not trying to make the case that Mike
Johnson is endowed with the qualities necessary to lead our conference. Even
you have limited yourself here to procedural justifications for his speakership
rather than telling us why he is a good or capable leader.
I appreciate this angle of the criticism. Johnson is kind of a MAGA-Yes Man when everyone sees him on social media. When it comes to actually governing, figuring out what can be done, making every effort to reconcile the different factions within the caucus, he doesn't even try.
Apparently, shortly after becoming Speaker, the intelligence apparatus confronted him about key issues, like extending the abusive surveillance state, ongoing funding for Ukraine, and maintaining the rest of the bureaucracy.
And he went along with it. Part of strong leadership is knowing how to push back on the lobbyists, the corporatists, and the bureaucrats who clamor for more funding ... or else! Most politicians just don't know how to say "No" once they have the power to say "Yes."
Johnson has shown himself not to be an effective leader, and Massie explains why.
Even if Mike’s
entire goal is to do everything Trump wants without debate or question (which I
would argue is not healthy for the institution of Congress), he’s not going to
be good at it. He already demonstrated this month that he won’t tell the
President what is achievable and what is not achievable in the House, and he
lacks the situational awareness himself to know what can pass and what cannot.
Politics is the Art of the Possible, not just the probable or the desirable. Leadership means having to tell some of your most ardent supporters that "We just don't have the votes." At the same time, leadership finds a way to get the necessary votes for key goals. Sadly, Democrats have been much better power players when it comes to twisting arms to get their way. I have read stories about Nancy Pelosi aggressively confronting members of her caucus who were wavering on a vote, and confronting them in the bathroom!
Rahm Emmanuel harrassed one of the Democrats from New York in the Congressional shower over votes. While I don't want anyone's natural rights violated, political leadership needs to find means for strong leverage to get the entire caucus in line.
1. “What do we
hope to gain?”
A competent
Speaker who has the will and the ability to capitalize on this once-in-a-decade opportunity. Johnson is not up for this task. Also, we want a Speaker who
inspires the public and who can make our case in the media, so we can keep the
majority for the second half of Trump’s term. Johnson nearly led us to the
minority in what was a banner year for Trump. He is certain to lose us the
majority in 2026.
The Speaker of the House is the chief fundraiser and promoter for the caucus. He not only wants to ensure that the entire conference keeps their seats in the next cycle, but he must work to expand the conference. Massie is right on here: Johnson failed. Republicans lost seats in California and New York, although the GOP did an incredible job in Pennsylvania and Michigan. What happened to the fifty-state strategy?
Johnson has already flubbed on national television, too, such as when he talked about the need for 'immigration reform' on Laura Ingraham's show. That was a red flag remark right away, and Ingraham pounced on it, since that phrase conjures up past betrayals for amnesty.
Also, he has little experience as a floor leader. Aside from chairing one small committee, Johnson has not worked all the angles of the conference the way that a leader needs to work.
2. “No one can
get more votes.”
It’s somewhat
ridiculous to assert that Mike Johnson is the only member of Congress electable
to Speaker. He was only electable the first time because he hadn’t held any
type of leadership position, nor had he ever fought for anything, so no one
disliked him and everyone was tired of voting. He won by being the least
objectionable candidate, and he no longer possesses that title.
Great point! Former Congressman Matt Gaetz pointed out that deposed Speaker Kevin McCarthy was frequently whipping votes against replacement speaker candidates every time another name was brought forward as another consensus candidate. Then Congressman Mike Molinaro said "Well, since Emmer failed, who was next in line? Let's just advance him!" That was Mike Johnson, and Gaetz jumped on that proposal to help rush Johnson to a floor vote, by which time there was no chance for McCarthy to whip against Johnson.
That's how we got MAGA Meltdown Mike.
3. “Risk
crippling Trump’s win.”
This is
argument is a scare tactic, meant to stampede the masses, plain and simple.
There is no legal or parliamentary argument for nullifying the national
election if a speaker is not in place on January 6th.
I agree. This is an empty scare tactic. The GOP Conference elected McCarthy after about a week of balloting. They will get this done before January 20th, 2025. Just like McCarthy, Johnson has not been meeting with key leaders in the GOP Conference about their concerns. Victoria Spartz declared on national television that Johnson has not put forward any plan to move forward Trump's agenda, for example.
Will he keep any promises? He didn't keep the ones he had made when first elevated as Speaker of the House. Why should anyone trust him now?
4. “They are
allies of the democrats”
Actually, it is
Mike Johnson who routinely passes major
legislation (Ukraine, Omnibus, FISA spying) with only a minority of
Republicans, and relying on most Democrats. He also owes his current
speakership to the Democrats. Here’s the roll call for the motion to table the
motion to vacate last summer. Pelosi and Jeffries teamed up to save Johnson:
https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2024/roll188.xml
The Democrats are basically running the show, once again. Why? Because Republicans are divided between those who actually want to drain the swamp, cut the spending, and get the country's fiscal house in order, and those Congressmen who owe their elections to big business, big military, and big labor donors who want their handouts.
Of course, the problem goes deeper when one considers that too many voters are not making larger, louder demands on their representatives to stop the spending, to put the needs of Americans first, and to honor and fulfill their oath of office to the United States Constitution! If you don't like what you see in Congress, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself: "Am I contributing to this mess? Am I still voting for the same people who promise me one thing, then go to Congress and break their promises again and again, only then to come back during election season and scold me with 'If you don't vote for me, the other guy will win, and he will be worse!'?"
In closing, the
emperor has no clothes and the entire conference knows it but few will say it.
The general public knows it too. Please don’t shoot the messengers.
Final Thoughts
Thomas Sowell, and by extension Ben Shapiro, have talked about all the perverse incentive structures at work in Congress. In order to get elected, Congressmen need lots of money, lots of positive media support. Their commitment, their dependence on donor classes is so strong, that they cannot back away from sending more money to Ukraine, or they cannot say No to continuing the reckless which keeps the bloated bureaucracy affloat.
Also, many Congressmen are launching into social media profiles and joining the broad Con Inc. commentariat. They are not interested in governing, as much as they want to make videos, create podcasts, generate a lot of heat to themselves when they prepare for their next career outside of Congress.
Some institutional reforms are essential for Congress to become more responsive to the people, and more importantly to the United States Constitution. For now, the best mechanism possessed by individual members to keep the Speaker in line is to frustrate any member's ascent to the gavel at the beginning of the term. This step does not maintain the power in the hands of the membership, however, once he gets the gavel. The motion to vacate will get rid of one bad Speaker, but who will take his place? This question needs more thought, more consideration. Congressmen Massie and his other dissatisfied colleagues have supposedly discussed this matter. Supposedly.
We will see what they come up with come January 3rd, 2025.
