The Republican House of Representatives was supposed to play hardball with the Democrats and the Senate. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) had promised to pass a six-month budget (a “clean CR”) along with the SAVE Act. But he failed dramatically, with 14 Republicans of all stripes voting against it.
So what happened? Much of the answer depends on which no votes you’re talking about and who you ask, but in the end the blame falls squarely on the speaker and his team.
First, consider the Pentagon lovers, or “defense hawks” — or whatever you want to call them. These guys love the military, eat up the scary secret briefings, and can’t find a billion-dollar credit card slip they won’t sign. The shiny brass over in Arlington said any sort of short-term funding deal would “jeopardize national security,” so these guys said they couldn’t support the CR.
You’ll hear complaints about amateur staff in over their heads from everyone from the Freedom Caucus to retired leadership staff, and after enough failures, it’s hard to ignore.
Seems like a tough hill to climb, right? Potentially yes, but here’s where the speaker and his team are supposed to come in.
Active and expertly run offices would work with the Republican whip to get these guys back into the fold. The Pentagon Republicans are rarely as difficult as the ideologues, and between cajoling and a few sweet promises, you can get them on board.
Johnson’s colleagues in leadership, however, don’t appear to have been a part of any plan. One anonymous member even complained to a morning newsletter that they had no idea what the plan was. It’s hard to really whip when you’re not in the room where the decisions are made.
Then there are the 12-step dreamers. These are those conservative Republicans who (rightly) long for the days of a proper, 12-bill appropriations process and (wrongly) rage against the machine until those days return.
I say “wrongly” because the last time Congress went through the proper appropriations process was 1996. To put that in perspective, in 1996 Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) wasn’t born yet. I also say “wrongly” because a six-month CR is the best shot in town at avoiding a bloated omnibus, which they — to a man — oppose even more aggressively. Ho-hum.
Anyway, these guys outnumber the recalcitrant Pentagon boys and demand a process, and they’re not going to vote for just any darn CR! … At least not one without the promise of a big old war with the Democrats and Senate uniparty at the end of it.
And this is where our speaker comes back in.
Because that wasn’t coming, was it? D.C. had reason to suspect Johnson wasn’t going to fight to the mats, telling the Senate, “An omnibus has zero chance in my chamber, and it’s a CR or a shutdown.” He said nothing like this, and his aides reportedly whispered around Capitol Hill that it was all a bluff — and one with enough time to change course before the end-of-month deadline.
That means those conservative Republicans maybe willing to bend their 12-bill rule for a fight weren’t ever going to get one. They were like those Highlanders in “Braveheart” who didn’t feel like standing against the English only for the nobles to negotiate a few new titles. So they left the field.
And finally, there was the McCarthy Derangement Caucus, which is just a bunch of wild men (and women) throwing meat to the crowds and screaming, “Are you entertained?!” Johnson wasn’t going to get those guys on his side, and that’s just part of the math you start out with.
But the rest is basically on him, and don’t just take my word for it. Folks from every side are glaring in his direction. You’ll hear complaints about amateur staff in over their heads from everyone from the Freedom Caucus to retired leadership staff, and after enough failures, it’s hard to ignore.
Even standing strictly on the outside, without the benefit of D.C.’s omnipresent barroom gossip, you can see a speaker who publicly brought a bill to a vote on the floor and failed — even with the Republican nominee’s full-throated support. How do you square that with a speaker in control?
So what’s next?
First, a three-month continuing resolution, which ends in a funding fight in December, when everybody wants to go home and no one wants to shut down the government. Then, another bloated omnibus, courtesy of your friends in the Grand Old Party. Merry Christmas. Maybe something will change. But I doubt it.
Sign up for Bedford’s newsletter
Sign up to get Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford’s newsletter.
Opinion & analysis
