I will answer, but first consider my Hoot of the Day: The WSJ says “Johnson is as conservative as anyone in the House.”
The House GOP’s Speaker Test
Please consider The House GOP’s Speaker Test by the WSJ editorial board.
Donald Trump on Monday endorsed Mike Johnson for another term as Speaker when the House votes to convene the 119th Congress on Friday, and that’s the smart move. The vote will test whether House Republicans are serious about governing or whether they’ll descend again into political masochism.
“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement,” Mr. Trump posted on his social-media site on Monday.
Mr. Johnson has earned re-election given his handling of the narrow GOP House majority and the impossible circumstances he inherited. A group of malcontents deposed Kevin McCarthy out of personal spite, and what did that accomplish? Nothing of substance we can see. Mr. Johnson was an almost accidental replacement after more prominent Members failed to get a majority.
But the man from Louisiana has quietly risen to the occasion. He listens to all factions in the riven GOP caucus. He’s as conservative as anyone in the House, but he’s also a student of the Constitution and a realist about the difficulty of legislating in the American system. You can’t always get what you want, but you try to get what you need—that is, the 218 votes to pass something.
The trouble is a rump, blow-it-all-up GOP faction that wants to make statements more than law. They’re threatening to take down Mr. Johnson, though they don’t have an alternative. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie has declared that he’ll oppose Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Massie opposes just about everything. This means the Speaker has to keep everyone else on side if all Members are voting on Friday.
Defeating Mr. Johnson would send the House into disarray, and to what end? Some Members may be holding their votes in reserve to angle for some better committee post in return for voting yes. But that’s the trouble with the House GOP: Too many Members are looking out for themselves rather than the larger political good. And the narrow majority gives them more leverage than they deserve.
Let’s Not Be Idiotic
That Johnson was willing to go along with a preposterous 1,500 plus continuing resolution bill crafted by Democrats says all you need to know.
34 Republicans said no, making the claim idiotic.
Why the Editorial Board Likes Johnson
- Johnson supported more money for Ukraine
- Johnson supported more money for Israel
- Johnson supports more money for defense spending
- To get money for the above Johnson is willing to buy votes from Democrats, increasing deficits across the board.
Q1 of the Day: Why does Trump like Johnson?
Q1 Answer: Trump now believes Johnson will do whatever Trump says.
Team DOGE (Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy) are willing to go along with Johnson because Trump is. Otherwise, they would both be trashing Johnson.
Johnson vs McCarthy
In practice, Mike Johnson has proven to be much worse than Kevin McCarthy. I called that in advance.
Q2 of the Day: Seriously, is there no now one better than Johnson (who would take the job)?
Q2 Answer: What’s the definition of better?
If better means someone who will suck up to Trump no matter what Trump wants, then perhaps there is no one better.
Otherwise, pull a random Republican name out of the hat and you would likely be no worse off and perhaps much better off.
Since there is no requirement that the House Speaker be a member of the House, I would be better. So would 10,000 others.
Anyone willing to be a true fiscal conservative (on total spending, defense and non-defense) no matter what Trump says, would be better.
Republicans Punt on Third Down, Who Is to Blame?
On December 20, I noted Republicans Punt on Third Down, Who Is to Blame?
On the march to the goal line, Republicans decided to punt. After floating a nonsensical idea to go for three separate bills, Johnson decided to opt for a single bill to avoid a government shutdown.
Musk Comment
“The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces. Ball should now be in the Dem court.”
Mercy! The record shows Johnson tried to pass a 1,500 page monstrosity. Then he failed a second time on a 116 page bill that included a hike in the debt ceiling.
Democrats were smart to approve this final versions and they voted unanimously to do so. That alone should tell you that it was not the optimum Republican strategy.
I stick with my assessment Dear Congress, Please Shut Down, There’s No Need to Address the Budget this Year
But on the march to the goal line, Republicans decided to punt.
Can DOGE Cut $2 Trillion Out of $1 Trillion? What About Revenue?
I keep retuning to the DOGE theme.
On December 27, I asked Can DOGE Cut $2 Trillion Out of $1 Trillion? What About Revenue?
The answer to the first question is obvious. So what about the second?
Click above for discussion.
To avoid a cluster-flop it’s OK to leave Johnson in for A WHILE.I hope that is the real reason for Mr. T’s support. If Johnson continues bending over for dimm & RINO overspending after Mr. T is settled in a while, we can demand a new Speaker then. We do need some inter-party peace UNTIL Johnson is proven.
I don’t trust Johnson. He gave in WITHOUT any resistance that I know of to every pork overspending bill dimms & RINOs wanted. Johnson NEVER stood for cutting spending.
On I could go about gutless wonder Johnson. I hope I am wrong & have to apologize….
Trump has a big HUGE poisionas snake he seems to think he should carry. He’s lent support to crypto money. Crypto ‘Currency’, a giant naked emperor, is now one of history’s largest Ponzi schemes.
No one can truly be against CBDC’s if they support Digital ‘Money.’ All this digital money talk is a set up for a Social Credit Score System like the Communist Chinese uses to enslave the Chinese citizen.
I don’t care what the fancy talk, blockchain & so on says.
IF IT’S ON THE NET IT CAN BE CHANGED, ADJUSTED, MESSED WITH, CONTROLLED & PROGRAMED!!
Let’s hope Trump dumps the digital snake. Because digital money will cost the US citizen every bit of freedom we have left!
SamFox
Excellent analysis because I agree with you.
when will dumb GOP voters see that EVERY GOP speaker is EXACTLY the same? all are like paul ryan a white hating jew sucking POS
Same mistake over and over, Trump is called Right Wing.
Trump is not right wing, he is right of center.
He would be a Kennedy Democrat in that time period.
MAGA is not right wing. Only in the psychotic heads of Liberal Presstitutes.
The Center has boatloads of spending priorities, and few are to go fiscal conservative.
Johnson will walk the center line or he will get nothing passed.
Washington as every place else, Money talks Bullshit walks. It is the National Moto at current time.
Speaker Johnson is a traitor to the USA in that he has helped to erode free speech, and destroyed the separation of Church and state, by supporting one religious group over the rest of the american citizens. Not only by supporting Johnson, but by the choices he has made in appointees, Trump has shown that he will make the same mistakes that he did last time, by surrounding himself with people who will betray him when they disagree with something he does.
I’m a MAGA guy, and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Trump really isn’t the politician we want him to be.
I don’t like Johnson either for different reasons. I think Trump’s nominees this time around getting started are better than 2017.
Time will tell.
Orange Judas strikes again.
Why is anyone supporting the Party of Compromise?
It’s gotten us to where we are today. Compromise rewards intellectual mediocrity and zero integrity.
Over time, the corruption has been incrementally foisted upon us to the point where many of the rank-and-file think criminal conduct is normal. The situation we encounter daily is not normal and our founding fathers would not even begin to recognize this regime as legitimate.
Welcome to the United States of Fraud. Fake elections, fake political parties, fake representative government, fake education, fake fiat currency, fake financial system, fake stock market, fake law enforcement, fake mass media, fake medical system, fake big pharma, fake foreign cult representation …….
Perhaps nobody slurps Israeli dingus other than Warp speed murdering Epstein guilty Israeli dingus slurping treasonous jew Freemason antichrist POS Trump. We have two Jewish countries siphoning money weapons and our kids blood from US. Israel should be nuked. All those supporting these satanic filth should be executed. That includes Trump who freed Israeli spies who stole US nuclear materials and secrets
Had too much last night?
you hate the truth you act exactly like a knee grow shown black crime stats
Someone’s off their meds again
Yeah, Goldwater was right on in speaking of Lyndon B Johnson, or LBJ: in your guts you know he’s nuts. And Tesla will turn out to be an Edsel, along with off shore floating wind farms providing cheap reliable energy without dead whales. Follow the money. Ford and Carter had no problem doling out mass amnesties and peanuts while all the president’s men were doing time for Watergate, unlike the donkey party’s history. Happy New Year. . . .
My head. My poor head. Pounding headache. Where am I? Who is that next to me in the bed?
Try not to wake him up when you roll out! And pray none of your buddies saw you leave with him!
Mish, you mentioned the Johnson Authorized spending extravaganza for Ukraine & Israel’s meat grinder operations.
There was also another beneficiary in that spending package: $4 Billion for HAMAS.. Yes, THAT HAMAS..
But fortunately, not one red cent for the U.S. Southern/Northern Border security!!!
That’s Mike Johnson..
AKA Paul Ryan 2.0
“Anyone willing to be a true fiscal conservative (on total spending, defense and non-defense) no matter what Trump says, would be better.”
Mish, you misunderstand how the government works. Congress passes legislation that has costs. Congress then funds those costs with either taxes or debt. If it doesn’t it will be sued, and forced to pay for the legislation. In order for Congress to reduce costs, it has to remove or replace existing legislation. In order to do that, it has to create legislation and get both a majority of the House and Senate to pass the legislation and the President to sign it. An effective speaker is someone who can get that done, regardless of ideological position. In a House with a 1 person party majority, it is essentially impossible to do the Speaker’s job. Not you, Musk, or anyone else would be more effective than Johnson (who can’t be effective himself). Donald Trump is America’s God-King. He is the only person in the country who can come close to imposing his will upon House conservatives. If Johnson is going to do anything, he has to use Trump’s power.
“Congress passes legislation that has costs”. Johnson and anyone else who votes for or supports this legislation is doing bad job because it costs too much. Johnson should be against the legislation. Congress wouldn’t have to fund the legislation we can’t afford it they didn’t pass it. Johnson and the rest of Congress should instead be repealing stuff we can’t afford. If Johnson was a real leader, he’d tell the American people the truth and oppose debt and anyone trying to raise the debt ceiling.
If the House chose to not raise the debt ceiling, $1.84 trillion would not be spent. But who decides which programs don’t get funded? It would mean the complete shutdown of the almost all discretionary funding, including the US military. Tell the American people that and your taxes will be shooting skyward in seconds.
Better taxes going up now on people who voted for this, that’s anyone who voted Republican or Democrat, though most are unaware of the problem extent, than bad inflation on people down the road who had no say in the matter. With everyone getting tax hikes, people might finally realize the consequences of Congress overspending and vote them out of office.
Every time I hear something like ‘he’s a religious man who will do the right thing ‘ I feel like throwing something and think ‘good old Barry Goldwater was right’
Well, calling the Democratic Party… er… I mean the donor-CRAT Party as the “left” is the ongoing “Hoot of everyday” for at least the last 3 decades. A real left-wing party would be anti-war, pro-labor, pro universal healthcare and pro social safety nets. The donor-CRAT Party is the exact opposite on all those counts.
Trump is fighting a rearguard action against the deep state’s operatives… he needs all the allies he can get. Is it so wrong to install one in the House who will do his bidding?
The first term in office (Trump 45) was different from what the second (Trump 47) will be. In Trump 47, expect to see more confirmed loyalty, less backstabbing, and more willingness to enact Trump’s plans. This is all confirmed by the more generous reception he’s getting from the press for his plans.
In Trump 45, the Russian Collusion Hoax that the press illegally perpetrated hurt Trump badly. He was constantly fighting against his fellow Americans. Although Trump was ultimately vindicated, the press didn’t report that. Their smugness and stupid anchor-hair grins are vomitous indicators of treason and betrayal. Let’s hope the courts come down hard on them in the various defamation suits the Donald has launched.
You can read more of my writings by going to: dark . sport . blog — on the net!
Israeli owned Trump should be the target of a firing squad not faking assassination and leading US to destruction fighting Iran for putrid POS parasite scumbag genocidal Israel
He belongs to me now, not Israel. I even have a little house at Maralago to stay in now!
Damn, Larry!
I got to agree with you Mish, as this fascination with MJ is over the top! When MJ first came aboard, as a Trump selected choice, I must admit I took his advice and backed him as well. That was quite some time ago. MJ has got to go! He has not done anything worthy of a stay, and we have several excellent choices awaiting behind him. That Johnson was willing to go along with a preposterous 1,500 plus continuing resolution bill crafted by Democrats says all we need to know.
The only roadblock I see, is that it must be someone the Party Supports 90+%, or they may not have the votes to get some things done. We have a very slim margin, so no hedging on this decision. A Solid Choice, that will pass effectively enough.
Unfortunately, the house and senate are comprised of approx. 90% UNIPARTY APARATCHIKs on both sides of the aisle.
Not long ago, I had lunch with a reitired 5 term congressman from Colorado.
He retired due to a promise he had made to his constituents although he could have been re-elected until he died of old age.
I asked him how many of our elected house/senate politicos were truly uncorrupted and acted on the best interests of their constituents during this one-on-one meeting.
His answer: less than 10.
I assumed he meant 10%.
He said “no, less than 10, total.”
So, that’s what we’re dealing with.
If you are a Rogue who always does what’s best for your voters and your country, you are frozen out, isolated & your campaign does not get support from The Party.
So, Mike Johnson or some other compromised clone is what we will get.
Every single time.
PS- if I could stereotype a classic congressional “leader”, he would look exactly like Mike Johnson: perfect hair. Perfect teeth. Soft spoken. He adopted “children of color”.
Spoke out against the !killer cop! Derik Chauvin in the St George Floyd Fiasco.
Have we ever had a Real Conservative Speaker who wasn’t a sell out?
Don’t say Newt, John BONER (lol), Paul Ryan-O.
They were all sell outs. If you believe Newt was a true conservative, think back to his handling of the NAFTA sell out…
Newt had a plan of to get stuff done, and signed by Clinton. (Note: If he didn’t blackmail Clinton, I’d be surprised) He did such a good job, Clinton got credit. Of the speakers post-Tip, Newt was by far the best.
– Unfortunately, the house and senate are comprised of approx. 90% UNIPARTY ApPARATCHIKs on both sides of the aisle.
> Well let’s see that exact example exposed, and then have them ALL “Voted Out”
– how many of our elected house/senate politicos were truly uncorrupted and acted on the best interests of their constituents (His answer: 10 or less people in total)
> Well we have more to clean up than thought, so we best get started on Day 1
– One who always does what’s best for your voters and your country.
> “A True Patriot”
– you are frozen out, isolated & your campaign does not get support from The Party.
> That is the way “Democrats Role” to be certain, when you disagree with them
– Have we ever had a Real Conservative Speaker
> Well then, I guess it’s damn time we do now isn t it
Trump wants Johnson, so the money & tax cuts keep flowing. We’ll see if Johnson turns out to be Paul Ryan 2.0 as Massie predicts. No one should be surprised how little will get done.
Securing the border has gone from costing $30-50B in 2017 to at least $200-300B.
There will definitely be more than 2 RINO’s / Uniparty members who will vote border / deportation money down. Making Trump lose & look bad is still alive & well within the GOP.
Disgusting the damage that Biden has done
You ain’t seen nothing yet. There won’t be a united states when Jew owned Trump is through
Larry, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you hate Jews?
100?
You should ‘google’ Ashkenazi Envy Syndrome.
Absolutely another ryan….they got pictures…why else sell out your lifelong principles…lol…
Warp speed murdering Epstein guilty Israeli dingus slurping treasonous jew Freemason antichrist POS Trump does well on his own making himself look bad.
Epstein dead? With his IQ, he has deadman’s keys scattered all over.
Did you google Ashkenazi envy Syndrome like I suggested?
Assuming Trump has a brain, he needs to go on offensive his first day. I’m thinking a MacD’s drive-thru window chat–maybe an add-on to the White House. He lays out why Congress has failed the US, what it means to be $37 T in the hole, and how to dig out. After all, he’s had prior experience in bankruptcy.
Get the people enraged and behind him, he can win the battle
As others here have said, Trump just want’s to move on now. Possibly keep Johnson on a tighter leash now that he can hold this over his head.
Trump doesn’t care about the spending which he shouldn’t in a way. The US debt isn’t like personal debt. Wynn Godley’s sectoral balances show this.
They issue is not Govt spending per’se It’s WHAT the spending is on.
100 Billion for Ukraine bombs or 100Billion for roads and bridges in the USA.
It’s really that simple.
The issue is spending AND what it’s spent on. They should cut off spending on NATO and the Ukraine and Israel and the multiple regime-change schemes the US is behind around the world. It’s supposed to be MAGA not MIGA.
Just say “no” to war on Iran.
We passed the ‘what’ point some years ago. Remind me, how much did Bidum spend on infrastructure again?
The issue is as much Congress is irresponsible, as the voters are too dumb to vote.
I don’t know how to fix dumb, but Congress must be held responsible for its waste and fraud. Hang a dozen and the rest will wise up.
Trump supports Johnson because he may be the only one who can get the votes to be speaker. As of now there are no other viable candidates because they can only lose one vote.
True, no one really stepped up and tried to secure the votes for speakership.
Should have been Byron Donalds last time.
Trump is supporting Johnson because he does not want the speaker position vacant before his certification.
Welcome to the MAGA clown circus.. the World is having a blast watching the disfunction of the ‘greatest’ power in the World. And please do not tell me nobody was expecting this when they voted for this crowd. Either you were naive of really dumb. I am not agreeing nor disagreeing. I get it people wanted change, but just do not tell me this came unexpected.
TDS. Get treatment
Get a functioning brain
Of course the MAGA crowd expected this.
The GOP is split because there are a growing number of conservative Congressmen and women who are concerned about our out-of-control debt / spending. The Dems, by and large, don’t have this issue. We have names for those in the party we want voted out: RINOs / Uniparty. I think the irony will be how little Trump & the GOP to get done that’s expected.
But the MAGA clown circus is a whole lot better than the Biden dumpster fire.
Legit
But the MAGA clown circus is a whole lot better than the Biden dumpster fire.
I disagree. Trump’s MAGA is “MIGA” with a coat of paint. Trump is as dangerous to the America as the commiecrat dems.
Time to take a broom to it. All of it.
Nah!
Sheesh, hide under your bed with put options.
Kidding me dementia patient shuffling around last 4 years…like freaking weekend at bernies…
And BIden is a genius.
Johnson needs Trump more than Trump needs Johnson so Johnson will do what Trump wants up to Johnson’s red line which I suspect will be flexible. Power politics means knowing who has the Power and who doesn’t and if you don’t have the Power you will have to make do with what you can get. Shutting down the government will do nothing except make the Rhinos happy and piss off everyone else hence counterproductive.
The question is then, what’s Johnson’s red line(s)?
Probably something similar to Mike Pence’s red line.
Not sure how DOGE is relevant given $2 trillion plus yearly federal servicing of the debt coming every year forever.
It’s not the size of the deficit that makes Doge irrelevant. It’s the fact that every channel of money spent has its advocates, and with a 2-3 seat majority, Republicans couldn’t enforce fiscal discipline even if they wanted to – which they don’t.
Trump will keep Johnson as SOTH long enough to get the election certified then all bets are off.
I sure as hell hope so.
One of the basic jobs of the Speaker is to be able to count votes – clearly Johnson can not. Doesn’t even know his own conference. And Trump wants him in the seat.
Trump wants to get certified.
Exploring where and how the Federal Government spends money
https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer
more here https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/#spending-categories
Was interviewing one of my favorite swamp monster “observers” who when asked “Will Speaker Johnson Survive?” answered “He Better, because if Trump spends the first few months trying to get a new speaker up to speed, his agenda is toast. I agreed with him and think that’s what is really going on here…besides the obvious that Johnson has a thankless job with no REAL governing majority and can pass very little without Democrat votes.
Agenda is probably toast anyway, depending on what parts of his statements you’re taking literally rather than just seriously.
They’ll extend the tax cuts. Everything else is in doubt. Even the Ukraine war will limp along if Trump expects Russia to accept some “deal” that will allow the Ukraine into NATO in the future. That’s a non-starter for Russia.
Letting Kiev burn and a zillion people flee from tanks flying old Soviet flags would make him look pretty bad so I’m guessing the Ukraine aid will keep limping along. Who knows.
The tax cuts will probably get extended, yeah. Everything else I’d bet against.
The Ukraine shouldn’t have let the US install a dozen CIA facilities in Eastern Ukraine.
You could be right, but hope you’re not.
I believe Trump doesn’t mind debt, and doesn’t mind deficits. I think he doesn’t like a debt limit because it is embarrassing. It’s about the superficial appearance of the thing. He will complain and displace blame, as he has done, but will accept horse-trades, and sign the spending bills. Maybe the GOP can be a bit more choosy (for two years), but I do not expect substantial changes in overall government finance from this crew. I expect them to throw tons of money, mostly in the usual directions, with a few flashy cuts. I have never seen a Trump who is a true fiscal conservative, in any area of life.
Trump has done an odd thing: actually got me to like Chip Roy.
Trump understands debt better than anyone around him except Scott Bessent.
Uh …. no. Trump understands bankruptcy better than anyone around him because he has had so much practice.
If you listen how “Businessman Trump” treated vendors servicing his empire (pianos come to mind) you just might be shocked.