Who runs the House? Donald Trump runs the House
In the midst of one of his early morning social media snits, Donald Trump thumped out an all-caps “KILL FISA” insisting that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was used to spy on his campaign. Trump’s timing wasn’t coincidental, as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had scheduled a rule vote on Wednesday to bring the FISA bill up for reauthorization. It’s the kind of thing that should have gone along without an issue. During both tenures of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the number of rule votes lost was zero. Throw in former Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner and it’s still zero. But today, as time for this routine vote approached, the most MAGA of MAGA began to peel away. First to slip from Johnson’s none-too-tight control was Rep. Matt Gaetz who announced that what he called “the national security state” had used the FISA courts to violate the law “more than 278,000 times.” Close behind was Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. And she didn’t leave any doubt about who was running the show. We are killing FISA. As written, it won’t make it off the floor. pic.twitter.com/HhJ1KMQPGp— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) April 10, 2024 Soon enough, more radical Republicans had broken away, and when it came time for the actual vote, Johnson lost. For the fourth time. FISA rule defeated in yet another setback for Speaker Johnson pic.twitter.com/5MgySKIdYq— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) April 10, 2024 As CNN notes, 19 Republicans ultimately voted against their leadership, which was more than enough to send the rules vote to defeat. The bill that failed to reach the floor on Wednesday contained significant reforms designed to address concerns raised by Republicans following investigations into connections between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016. It did not include the portion of the bill under which former Trump adviser Carter Page was surveilled. Two other attempts to present a revised version of FISA ended in December with both bills pulled from the floor when it became clear neither was going to pass. Politico calls this third failure to pass a FISA bill a blow to Johnson. The speaker reportedly made multiple efforts to convert some Republican doubters and told representatives it was likely that, if they failed to get reform done this time, the Senate would send them a FISA bill without the reforms they had crafted. Rep. Drew Ferguson reportedly replied, “I guess we’ll see.” While Johnson hasn’t (yet) matched former Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s achievement in losing two rules votes in a single week, he seems to have edged out his predecessor in terms of his overall position in the Loser’s Club: McCarthy only totaled up three losses while Johnson already has four. Johnson now seems well positioned to take on past champ Newt Gingrich, who lost six rules votes before departing the House. What’s clear is that, even if Johnson is the guy in the chair, he’s not the man in charge. So long as the response to Trump’s every grunt is blind obedience from the MAGA army, Republican leadership is a joke. They could save a lot of space in the House chambers if they’d just fit the Republican side with one gold-plated throne. RELATED STORIES: House GOP is so over Marjorie Taylor Greene's antics Trump's attempt to address abortion loses big—with everyone Campaign Action
JoriPress
In the midst of one of his early morning social media snits, Donald Trump thumped out an all-caps “KILL FISA” insisting that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was used to spy on his campaign. Trump’s timing wasn’t coincidental, as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had scheduled a rule vote on Wednesday to bring the FISA bill up for reauthorization.
It’s the kind of thing that should have gone along without an issue. During both tenures of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the number of rule votes lost was zero. Throw in former Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner and it’s still zero.
But today, as time for this routine vote approached, the most MAGA of MAGA began to peel away. First to slip from Johnson’s none-too-tight control was Rep. Matt Gaetz who announced that what he called “the national security state” had used the FISA courts to violate the law “more than 278,000 times.” Close behind was Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. And she didn’t leave any doubt about who was running the show.
Soon enough, more radical Republicans had broken away, and when it came time for the actual vote, Johnson lost. For the fourth time.
As CNN notes, 19 Republicans ultimately voted against their leadership, which was more than enough to send the rules vote to defeat.
The bill that failed to reach the floor on Wednesday contained significant reforms designed to address concerns raised by Republicans following investigations into connections between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016. It did not include the portion of the bill under which former Trump adviser Carter Page was surveilled. Two other attempts to present a revised version of FISA ended in December with both bills pulled from the floor when it became clear neither was going to pass.
Politico calls this third failure to pass a FISA bill a blow to Johnson. The speaker reportedly made multiple efforts to convert some Republican doubters and told representatives it was likely that, if they failed to get reform done this time, the Senate would send them a FISA bill without the reforms they had crafted. Rep. Drew Ferguson reportedly replied, “I guess we’ll see.”
While Johnson hasn’t (yet) matched former Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s achievement in losing two rules votes in a single week, he seems to have edged out his predecessor in terms of his overall position in the Loser’s Club: McCarthy only totaled up three losses while Johnson already has four. Johnson now seems well positioned to take on past champ Newt Gingrich, who lost six rules votes before departing the House.
What’s clear is that, even if Johnson is the guy in the chair, he’s not the man in charge. So long as the response to Trump’s every grunt is blind obedience from the MAGA army, Republican leadership is a joke. They could save a lot of space in the House chambers if they’d just fit the Republican side with one gold-plated throne.
RELATED STORIES:
House GOP is so over Marjorie Taylor Greene's antics
Trump's attempt to address abortion loses big—with everyone Campaign Action
