Congress
Johnson has 3 main options to avert a shutdown. None of them are looking good.
Mike Johnson’s in a terrible spot, with a government shutdown deadline looming in less than 48 hours and no obvious way out.
Conservatives are furious, rank-and-file members are exasperated, and President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to primary his members and taking blatant shots at his speakership.
After spending weeks negotiating a stopgap spending bill with several add-ons, Trump and others all but killed Johnson’s deal on Wednesday. Now, he has to figure out if he’ll try to stick with it, passing it using a lot of Democratic support, or come up with another last-minute escape hatch. And time is quickly running out.
All of his options have downsides. Let’s lay them out:
Stick to the status quo: This appears to be the least likely, as both Donald Trump and Elon Musk have come out against the bill he negotiated to punt the funding deadline until March 14.
This might have passed both chambers — at least, it could have before Trump came out against it — but if Johnson moves forward with it now, there’s a good chance he won’t be reelected speaker on Jan. 3. Conservative anger is too high, with at least one Republican already saying he’ll vote for someone else and several others noncommittal.
Plus, Johnson needs Trump to stay on his side. Directly opposing him by putting this forward anyway would be ill-advised, and Trump hinted at this in an interview with Fox News Digital, saying Johnson would “easily remain speaker” if he “acts decisively and tough” and eliminates “all of the traps being set by Democrats” in the spending package.
A clean stopgap bill: Even before Trump came out against the stopgap funding package Wednesday, Johnson was discussing putting forward a “clean” bill that wouldn’t include add-ons like disaster aid and a farm bill extension. But there are problems there, too, and it’s unclear that it could clear Congress.
Some Republicans have vociferously demanded disaster aid for their natural disaster ravaged communities. Sen Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), for example, already said he wouldn’t vote for a package unless it included disaster aid. Democrats also likely wouldn’t support the bill unless it at least included money to help those affected by natural disasters.
Plus, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have now called for a debt limit increase to ride along with this bill. Leaving that out could stoke their anger, even if it’s a more straightforward bill.
Stopgap with a debt limit hike: This is the preferred option of Trump and others — but it requires rank-and-file to walk what has been the third rail of modern GOP politics: Lifting the nation’s borrowing limits. Republicans have twisted themselves into all sorts of pretzels to avoid precisely these sorts of votes over the last decade, preferring to leave it to Democrats.
Typically, raising the debt limit comes with spending caps, an issue that takes weeks of negotiations, if not more. Lawmakers have less than two days before a shutdown kicks in.
Maybe Trump’s insistence gets enough Republicans on board — but lawmakers would then have to likely pass the underlying bill on their own. Democrats have indicated they don’t plan to bail out Republicans over these sorts of 11th hour demands for changes to their negotiated bipartisan measure.
Keep in mind: This is all before the measure reaches the Democratic-run Senate, where 60 votes will be needed to eventually pass the legislation to keep the government lights on. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he’s waiting to see what the House does.
As we said: There are no good or consequence-free options for Johnson. This episode has riled up some conservatives against his speakership — and the odds of him easily clinching the gavel have gone down substantially.
Congress
Senate GOP ready to move on elections bill
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters Monday the chamber will vote Tuesday to take up a House-passed elections bill known as the SAVE America Act.
The Wyoming Republican, whose job it is to help round up support, said he is “doing everything I can to make sure we get on this bill tomorrow.”
Republicans will need a simple majority to begin debate on the partisan legislation; they can lose three members and still let Vice President JD Vance break a tie.
So far, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has said he’s a “no,” while Republicans are also watching GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Congress
Jesse Jackson’s family withdraws posthumous endorsement in Illinois Senate primary
The family of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson walked back a posthumous endorsement of Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s Senate campaign on Monday, after the family said Jackson’s endorsements for Tuesday’s primaries were not completed before his death.
On Saturday, Stratton’s campaign touted an endorsement from Jackson, who died last month, and his son Yusef. The announcement came after Stratton saw Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Jackson family’s organziation, passing out sample ballots — which were also obtained by Blue Light News — that recommended Stratton.
“[Jackson’s] example has been a north star for me, and I’m deeply honored to have received his trust, support, and endorsement before his passing,” Stratton said in a statement on Saturday.
But on Monday, Yusef Jackson, who is the organization’s COO, said the draft sample ballot was “released without authorization” and that the Jackson family and Rainbow PUSH Coalition are not making political endorsements this cycle.
His father “began the process of reviewing candidates and identifying those he intended to support in the upcoming primary election,” Yusef Jackson said in the statement. “However, given his passing just over a month ago, the process was never fully completed. Out of respect for my father, we decided not to publicly release his intended selections given the process had not been finalized.”
The Stratton campaign said on Monday that officials with Rainbow PUSH Coalition said she had been endorsed by Jackson.
“Juliana spoke on Saturday at Rainbow PUSH for a Women’s History Month event and officials told her she received the endorsements. Organizers shared the sample election ballot that was already being distributed and encouraged her to share the news,” the Stratton campaign said in a statement.
The endorsement mix-up draws further scrutiny on the split among Black Democrats in Illinois between Stratton and Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), who are both seeking to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. Some Democrats in the state have expressed concern that Stratton and Kelly could split the vote in Tuesday’s primary, creating a path for Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) to win the nomination.
Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) told Blue Light News prior to the family’s statement that his father “never got in on Black-on-Black fights.”
Jonathan Jackson added that the races the late Jesse Jackson “was excited about” were himself and former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s comeback bid.
“He wouldn’t do that. He was always pushing the community forward,” Jackson said. “This smells of desperation.”
Congress
Johnson on Trump’s Hormuz plan
Speaker Mike Johnson said he supports President Donald Trump’s effort to build a global coalition ensure safe passage of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz — even if Trump “didn’t anticipate it” being necessary before launching airstrikes against Iran.
Speaking to reporters after attending a Washington event with Trump, Johnson said the president told him that “he anticipated the strait of Hormuz would be closed.”
“I don’t know that he didn’t anticipate it in the front end, but now it’s necessitated,” Johnson said. He added that the coalition is “a reasonable thing” for other countries to assist with and “it would be helpful.”
Asked about how much a potential supplemental package to fund the military action would cost, Johnson said, “We don’t know yet.” Estimates for the cost of the war have exceeding $1 billion per day.
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