Speaker Johnson just learned “righteousness” isn’t enough
By Michael Jones
When Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) entered the Capitol on Monday morning as Congress returned from a six-week summer break, he encountered a clump of reporters with a single question: What’s Plan B after his proposed strategy to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month ultimately flamed out?
It was easy to see why he would need one.
Instead of putting forward a straightforward—or “clean”—continuing resolution that maintained current funding levels through mid-December to give lawmakers the time between Election Day and the end of the legislative year, Johnson green-lit a measure that included a six-month CR and the SAVE Act. This controversial conservative bill would require people to provide proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. (It is currently a federal crime for noncitizens to vote, punishable by deportation and a ban on reentry into the country. Each state has a law against noncitizens voting as well.)
“There is no fallback position. This is a righteous fight. This is what the American people demand and deserve,” Johnson told reporters while defending his party’s “voter integrity” pursuit through the SAVE Act. “So it’s unconscionable to me that anybody would vote against that or suggest that it’s politics. This is principle.”
Two days after he said those words, Johnson yanked the bill ahead of what would have been another embarrassing defeat on the House floor less than eight weeks before voters will decide the congressional balance of power.
Some opposition was expected.
The Democratic-led Senate rejected the bill before the ink of the text was barely dry. The White House said President Biden would veto the bill if it somehow found its way to his desk. Those weren’t surprises. But it was ultimately members from Johnson’s own conference—from hardline conservatives to defense hawks—who tanked the speaker’s effort.
On the surface, this resembles the countless squabbles between Johnson, Senate Democrats, and the Biden administration over conservative priorities that ultimately will not become law.
But what’s different about Johnson is that, unlike his predecessor McCarthy, he’s a true conservative who wants to see the policies his far-right flank is pushing enacted as a matter of, as he told us, principle—not just political expediency or survival.
It’s still undetermined what Johnson will do next. But what’s obvious is that righteousness has its limitations when you lack the votes to enforce it. Even further, this episode underscores for Democrats why a GOP-controlled Congress is so worrisome for democracy: Without constraints of an opposition party across the Capitol or at 1600 Pennsylvania Street to rein him in, Johnson’s politics could inform his governing strategy to devastating effect.
“I think what they’re trying to debate around the CR and the SAVE Act and all the other stuff is totally crazy,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) told me after Republicans pulled the vote on Wednesday. “It’s just like he has no control of his caucus because they’re so extreme. And this shouldn’t be about any sort of righteous fight. It should be about actually providing services and saving millions of jobs across the country that would be impacted, of course, if we had a government shutdown.”
Democrats believe their concerns are warranted based on Johnson’s record as a rank-and-file member.
After all, Johnson was one of 120 US representatives to object to certifying the 2020 election and led 126 Republicans who signed a brief in support of a Supreme Court lawsuit contesting the results of the election. With former President Trump once again denying the outcome of the election as recently as Tuesday night during the debate, it’s fair to wonder if Johnson—empowered with the speaker’s gavel—would once again muck up the certification process if the former president were to lose again.
Johnson has supported bills that restrict or ban access to abortion care and co-sponsored three bills that would impose criminal penalties on doctors who perform the procedure. And while he said in May that he wouldn’t attempt to pass a nationwide abortion ban, he’s all but certain to block any legislation restoring reproductive freedom from floor consideration.
He’s questioned whether humans are responsible for climate change and has opposed LGBTQ+ rights, a $15 minimum wage, and voted in 2017 to repeal the Affordable Care Act—legislation that, according to new government data this week, has enabled one in seven Americans to gain access to health care coverage in the past decade.
And he supported Trump’s Muslim ban and has introduced legislation to make it harder for undocumented immigrants to seek asylum in the US.
To be clear, Johnson has to survive this current moment before he can even think about what he could achieve during the next Congress—and to do so, he’ll need Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY), to once again provide the votes on the final pieces of must-pass legislation. But Jeffries, who will go down as one of the most powerful minority leaders in US history, isn’t publicly gloating at his Republican counterpart’s expense following this latest government funding debacle.
“It’s not clear to me that it’s a difficult moment for Speaker Johnson,” Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday before slamming former President Trump’s debate performance the night before. “Because he’s dealing with an unmanageable situation that includes an out-of-control Republican presidential nominee who was knocked out yesterday and is on the floor, on the canvas lying about his performance when he embarrassed himself before the American people.”
It’s worth noting that Jeffries has the most to gain from Johnson’s downfall: He would become the first Black speaker if Democrats retake the House. And top allies like Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, told me that Americans can expect Jeffries to lead as speaker in the same way he’s done so as the top House Democrat.
“He’s consistent. You’re going to see someone who is powerful without playing games. You’re going to see someone who is honest and forthright. He’s a lawyer. He’s a scholar, so he understands the rule of law. He is not afraid. He deals with confrontation or challenges in the same way.
Beatty said Jeffries is especially skilled at dealing with legislative challenges.
“He’s going to be methodical. He’s going to take his time and walk through it,” she said. “And then he’s going to come out and give you an answer that most people might not have thought of [but] that would make sense.”
Jeffries is known for his love for hip-hop and alliterative oratory style, but Beatty said the Brooklyn Democrat has the substance to match the style.
“He’s not someone that I’d want to be on the wrong side of, so I think you should not confuse his ability to seem so smooth and easy to get along with,” she said. “You look at his life and growing up, you look at the life that his parents and his family has had, he is committed to his family and his views and his beliefs, but his core values fit that of our great democracy. I think it will be a delight.”
Michael Jones is an independent Capitol Hill correspondent and contributor for COURIER. He is the author of Once Upon a Hill, a newsletter about Congressional politics.
