Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Johnson Re-Elected Speaker
Mike Johnson (R-LA) won re-election as Speaker of the House on Friday, technically on the first ballot. Like the Battle of Waterloo, it was a damned near thing. The Republicans have, at best, a three vote majority. This will fall to 1 as the incoming felon/president has appointed two members to positions in the next administration. Mr. Johnson won election 218 to 215, and for a time, he did not have the votes. Three GOP members opposed him. The vote was left open, and phone calls to Mr. Trump represented all the arm twisting needed to get two of those to fall in line. Perhaps, because the political landscape is different, GOP officials are more willing to yield to get things done than they were under Mr. Biden.
The last Congress was an abject failure, a legislature that got nothing done. Most of the blame falls on the House, and by extension, the Republican Party in the chamber. However, Joe Biden remains president, and for that reason, the GOP did not care whether it got anything done. Indeed, there was pressure to do nothing for fear that Mr. Biden would get a win if any legislation passed. The ridiculous dysfunction that the election of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), his removal and the struggle to enthrone Mr. Johnson demonstrated was tolerable to the MAGA crew because getting stuff done was not their purpose.
This time around, Il Douchy will be the president, and the House GOP members want to deliver for him. They have not been as disciplined as the Democrats, which is the world turned upside down for many who watch US politics. That seems to be changing. Rather than embarrass the Speaker, they held the vote open and made whatever deal they decided was necessary. Technically, the election took one ballot. That is a definite improvement when it comes to public appearances.
The impact this change could have on the politics of the country is huge. The Republicans do have a majority in both houses, they hold the White House and the Supreme Court (a political body). Everything that happens is their responsibility. If they can maintain party discipline, which the re-election of Mr. Johnson demonstrates, they will be able to pass anything the felon-in-chief wants. Can they?
While Mr. Trump will never be judged by his cultists, that does not prevent challenges to sitting incumbents in primaries coming from the right. There is a huge divide in the GOP over budgetary stringency and spending to achieve things like deportation of millions. In the end, this journal believes that the Republicans will spend and allow the deficit to soar (as they have done since Mr. Reagan's first term when they have the White House). That could prove problematic.
Clearly, they do not want to tell Mr. Trump he cannot have something he wants. Challenges to the cult leader are rarely successful. Yet, there are members of the Republican Party who still are stuck on balanced budgets and lower taxes. If they do not vote for austerity, especially after many have spent years arguing for it, they open themselves up to challenges from the right on the budget.
Primary voters are ideologues (in any party). They do not like compromises nor do they like strategic withdrawals (two things vital in democratic government). They will listen to accusations that the incumbent congressman/woman voted to swell the deficit, and that could take more than a few down. Keeping those vulnerable members onside will be tricky. If there were a 15 vote majority in the House, it would not matter. A one-vote margin gives every GOP member a veto.
The Trumpists now have to try something new -- governing.
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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