Greene continues attacks on Speaker Johnson
Another earthquake in New Jersey's Senate race
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for March 25, 2024:
Still no House GOP plan for Ukraine aid.
A Monday spending quiz.
Trump trolls for someone to primary a Florida Republican.
THIS WEEK. The House and Senate are out for Easter. The Supreme Court hears a big case on abortion. Speaker Johnson watches his back.
VACATE. Two days after surprising her GOP colleagues by filing a motion to boot House Speaker Mike Johnson from his post, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) left no doubt about her goal, blasting the Speaker on Sunday both in conservative media interviews and in a string of posts on social media.
MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. "This may take weeks, it may take months," Greene said Sunday during an interview on Fox Business of her quest to force out Johnson. "It may not even happen until next Congress. But Speaker Johnson cannot remain as Speaker of the House."
GOP. There was no evidence that Greene's push was gathering steam from other House Republicans. But the mere fact that she was so stridently pushing the idea of ousting the Speaker was yet another head-shaking moment for the GOP - in a Congress which has been filled with self-inflicted wounds.
LESSONS LEARNED. GOP lawmakers have been slow to learn lessons about legislative failures - but it sure seems like they understand that ousting a second Speaker in the same Congress won't work either.
MCCARTHY REDUX? "I think for most people, they believe it was a mistake to remove Kevin McCarthy," said Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH). "It set our agenda back. We really haven't stayed on offense at all."
MINIBUS. Obviously, there is a lot of GOP fury about the details of last week’s package of six government funding bills, which House Republicans voted against on Friday by the tally of 112-101. "This bill could have been so much better had Republicans in either house of Congress stood united," said Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).
UNITY. And that's really the bottom line for GOP lawmakers in Congress - they have not been united in this 118th Congress. Just look at the ouster of Speaker McCarthy, Greene's effort to go after Speaker Johnson, and the never-ending push by the Freedom Caucus to not cooperate with GOP leaders at all. That's not a recipe for victory.
NEW JERSEY SENATE. We've had two thunderclap moments in New Jersey politics in the past four days. Last week, embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) announced he would not run in the Democratic Primary for reelection - but might as an Independent - as he tries to beat bribery and corruption charges. Yesterday might have been even bigger.
FIRST LADY. On Sunday, Democrat Tammy Murphy - the wife of the sitting Governor - shocked many by suspending her campaign for Senate. That leaves Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) as the frontrunner, in what's been a grassroots campaign which absolutely overwhelmed the New Jersey Democratic establishment.
KIM. Elected in 2018, Andy Kim was first noticed by many on Capitol Hill when a photograph was taken of him helping to clean up after the Jan. 6 attack in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Here was a member of Congress, on his hands and knees in his suit, filling garbage bags after the attack by Trump supporters.
SENATE. "It’s important to take a step back and remember that we are all a part of something bigger than all of us," Kim tweeted last night. "We are here at this moment today because of the extraordinary grassroots movement growing in NJ."
LEANS DEM. It’s not overstating things to say that Kim is the prohibitive favorite right now to win in November. That would take the seat from Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and brings forward a new face in the party who has clearly excited the grassroots in the Garden State.
UKRAINE. Speaker Mike Johnson hasn't really made an announcement, but one top House Republican said Sunday that the House will vote on some kind of Ukraine aid bill when Congress returns to work in April. "His commitment is to put it on the floor after Easter," Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) told CBS's 'Face the Nation' on Sunday. "And we are working on this bill."
OPPOSITION. In his interview, McCaul acknowledged that Speaker Johnson is under a lot of pressure from some Republicans to never bring aid to Ukraine to the House floor. "He's in a very difficult spot," McCaul said of the Speaker. "With the world on fire the way it is, we need to govern," McCaul added.
DETAILS. While McCaul says the Speaker is committed to pass some kind of aid package, it seems hard to believe that there's no plan yet. It's been almost six weeks since the Senate voted 70-27 in favor of aid to both Ukraine and Israel - and since then, nothing has happened in the House, despite pleas for action.
DEMS. "Speaker Johnson is wasting time that Ukraine simply does not have," said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL). "If the Speaker puts Ukraine funding on the Floor, it will pass with a bipartisan vote," said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). "If he does not, he will have to explain why he lost Ukraine."
WHITE HOUSE. On Saturday, the President also pressed for action on Ukraine. "I want to be clear: Congress’s work isn’t finished," Biden said in a written statement. "The House must pass the bipartisan national security supplemental to advance our national security interests."
MINIBUS. After final Senate approval of a six-bill government funding package at 2 am on Saturday morning, President Biden signed that into law by lunchtime, giving us at least six months before we have to worry about yet another government shutdown deadline - at the end of September.
BIDEN. "The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open, invests in the American people, and strengthens our economy and national security," Biden said. "This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted."
THREE BRANCHES. Approval of that funding plan lets us step back for a minute to hold a little Monday quiz. How much do you think gets spent on Congress and the Legislative Branch?
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH. It's not just the Congress which makes up the Legislative Branch. There's the Library of Congress, Government Accountability Office, the Government Printing Office, the U.S. Capitol Police, and more. How much was in the minibus spending package? $6.75 billion for 2024.
JUDICIAL BRANCH. How much do you think Congress approved to run the federal judiciary in 2024? The answer is $8.63 billion for the federal judiciary. Add the Legislative and Judicial Branches together, and you get $15.38 billion. That's not even 1 percent of the overall discretionary budget.
WHITE HOUSE. That's right. The President oversees an Executive Branch which spends about $1.7 trillion. The Legislative and Judicial Branches add up to $15.38 billion.
FINE PRINT. When most people think about Congress acting on legislation, they rightly think about what is in the actual bill language approved by lawmakers and subsequently signed into law by the President. But when we talk about something like last week's 'minibus' government funding package, there is something much more important than the bill text.
REPORT. While the bill sets the overall funding levels for various departments and agencies, the report language to accompany the measure is much more detailed on how the money should be spent. For example, you don't find the earmarks in the actual bill - those are in the report language.
LANGUAGE. While the regular bill was just over 1,000 pages, the report language was over 600 pages long in the Congressional Record. It was so much content that the Record dedicated an entire 'Book' to just this one item. You can find it at this link.
FSGG earmarks begin on page 248.
DHS earmarks start on page 320.
Labor-HHS earmarks start on page 398.
SUNSHINE STATE. We all know the power of a Donald Trump endorsement in a Republican Primary setting. It often determines the winner and can cripple an incumbent. We could be watching that happen for Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL).
TRUTH SOCIAL. "Any great MAGA Republicans looking to run against Laurel Lee in Florida's 15th Congressional District?" Trump posted on his Truth Social website late on Saturday night. "IF SO, PLEASE STEP FORWARD!"
LEE. What has Lee done which angered Trump? That's an easy question to answer. She had the audacity to endorse Gov. Ron DeSantis for President. That kind of individuality is not allowed by Team Trump - just witness the effort to defeat Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) for the same heresy.
HALLWAYS. We had a rare overreach by Capitol Police and Senate security officials last Wednesday, as they forced reporters out of an area just off the Senate floor where we routinely wait to interview Senators. Why all the stepped up security measures? Who was meeting with GOP Senators? No one.
VIDEO. What was happening? Senate Republicans were having their weekly lunch, hearing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by video link. We always stand outside of that GOP meeting and can't hear a single word from inside. But this time reporters were shooed around the corner.
LETTER. "This is a significant departure from our normal access and was instituted without explanation or warning," the board of the Radio TV Press Gallery wrote in a letter of protest. "The briefing with Netanyahu was remote, so the security risk associated with the lunch was no different from what it would be on any other day."
SECURITY. I remember the 1990's, when reporters were told we couldn't stand outside the chamber and wait for Senators in one spot. Washington Post reporter Helen Dewar protested by doing the 'Helen Dewar Shuffle,' walking her way super-slowly through the halls, in hopes of running into a Senator to interview. The rule was ultimately repealed.
RAP SHEET. A South Carolina man has pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting police officers on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol. As Thomas Casselman fought with police holding the line outside the building, he also used pepper spray against officers. Back home, Casselman later made various internet search inquiries:
“The statute of limitations for assault on a police officer.”
“The statute of limitations for assault on a federal officer.”
“Assaulting a federal officer punishment.”
“What is the definition of a domestic terrorist.”
“How long does Verizon keep text messages.”
MUSE OF HISTORY. March 25, 1902. On this date, the House and Senate were asked by various groups to tighten the U.S. border. Union groups from Oregon to Ohio to Maryland submitted petitions calling on Congress to again pass bills to restrict immigration, specifically barring Chinese laborers and any immigrants from southern or Eastern Europe. Other petitions called for approval of an educational test for all immigrants as well.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on April 9.
The Senate is back on April 8.
Check President Biden’s schedule.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
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Great detail on the Jan 6 Internet searches.
I read somewhere else, but not from a traditional news source, that there were some "other" items in the budget bill that passed. Two notable were something about never allowing the US to move our embassy in Israeli back to Tel Aviv. And also that Pride flags could never be flown at any US embassy around the world. Any truth to such news? Were you able to spot any other unique issues in that budget legislation that passed? Thank you, Jamie!