Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson appeared on Fox News last week and expressed great optimism about his party and its prospects in the new Congress. “Look, we’re excited about this,” the Louisiana Republican declared. “We have already shown that we can govern with a small majority.”
He’s been saying that a lot lately. Johnson is clearly aware that the Republican Party will have a vanishingly small majority in the new year, but the top Republican lawmaker on Capitol Hill continues to assure the public that he and his party “know how to govern with that small majority.”
Part of the problem with this claim is that recent history points in the opposite direction: While the current Congress prepares to wrap up, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives has in fact failed to make any significant achievements, and Johnson has repeatedly must rely on the Democratic minority to provide its support. bills must be passed in advance.
But it is not just the recent past that contradicts the boasts of the Speaker of the House of Representatives; it is also the present. The Washington Post summarized the state of affairs nicely:
The federal government is heading toward a weekend shutdown deadline as Republicans in Congress, egged on by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, fight over legislation to keep agencies open during the Christmas holidays. Republicans on Wednesday rejected a plan by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) for a three-month emergency funding extension, called a continuing resolution or CR, with more than $100 billion in aid for natural disaster survivors, bipartisan health care policy changes and other unrelated provisions.
It’s a story with several moving parts, so let’s unpack this.
Haven’t the parties already agreed on a mutual agreement?
Yes. After several weeks of uncertainty, Democratic and Republican leaders — from both chambers — announced a compromise package that would avoid a government shutdown and extend the next deadline until March.
Isn’t this what most Republicans wanted?
Sort of. Johnson and his leadership team had to decide whether to pursue a spending package that would fund the government until the end of the financial year at the end of September, or an emergency bill – called a ‘continuing resolution’ (or ‘CR’) – that would keep the lights on until March . Rank-and-file Republican lawmakers wanted the latter, assuming the Trump White House and Republican-led Congress could write a better bill.
But?
But that meant the Speaker of the House of Representatives had to accept concessions from Democrats, who still control the Senate and the White House, and whose votes would obviously be needed to pass a temporary package.
If there is an agreement between both parties, what is the problem?
A large number of Republicans in the House of Representatives refuse to support the bill negotiated by their own leaders. Just as importantly, conspiratorial billionaire Elon Musk decided to go after the bipartisan bill, relying on several demonstrably false claims about the details of the legislation, which has fueled a far-right backlash.
And Trump?
After Musk launched an aggressive campaign against the bill, the president-elect followed suit and began making new demands of his own — including, strangely, a call for raising the debt ceiling, which struck members of both parties as bizarre — and even began looming primary challenges against GOP lawmakers who defy his wishes.
So the bipartisan agreement is dead?
Not officially, as it hasn’t been voted on yet, but both sides agree that the legislation is at best life support, and is unlikely to survive in its current form.
What do the Democrats want to see happen?
Their position is simple: Democrats negotiated in good faith, reached an agreement and remain willing to honor that agreement. They want Republicans to do the same.
What do Republicans want to see happen?
Well, that’s a moving target. Different players within the Republican Party want different things, although the common thread seems to be that Republicans would like Democrats to (a) give up all the things the Speaker of the House has promised them, and (b) anyway help approve a CR.
Would the Democrats go along with this?
Almost certainly not. Musk, Trump, and rank-and-file Republican members of Congress created this mess, and Democrats see no reason to help them clean it up in exchange for nothing.
What now?
No one seems to be able to answer that question with confidence, but the clock is ticking: the deadline for the government shutdown is midnight on Friday.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
