As talks over spending intensify, Johnson’s ties become tighter

During an intense meeting Tuesday in the Oval Office, Chairman Mike Johnson was the odd one out.

President Biden made it clear that the speaker’s views were not in line with those of other leaders in the administration, as did Vice President Kamala Harris. Top Democrats in the House and Senate did so, too. Even Senator Mitch McConnell, his fellow Republican leader on the other side of the Capitol, emphasized the need for the speaker to prevent a government shutdown and deliver much-needed aid to Ukraine.

With time running out to respond to two crises – a partial government shutdown looming this weekend and the possible end of US aid to help Ukraine achieve victory in its war against Russia – the Mr Johnson, just months after taking office, finds himself making the final deferment to an increasingly agitated table of negotiators.

On the one hand, he feels pressure from the President of the United States, both the leaders of the Senate and the minority leader of the House of Representatives – all of whom are demanding that he make a deal to finance the government and increase aid to Kiev in to stand firm. But on his right flank he faces a group of hardline Republicans who are demanding he stick to conservative priorities and reject Ukraine’s calls for help or risk being removed from the presidency.

To put it succinctly, Mr Johnson is in trouble.

“Boy, what a tough call this is,” said former Rep. Vin Weber, Republican of Minnesota, who helped advise Kevin McCarthy during his lengthy bid to secure the gavel. “There is no solution that will make everyone happy and unite the Republican Party.”

Mr. Weber said the pressure on Mr. Johnson came not just from members of Congress but also from a Republican electorate at war with itself.

“He has a divided Republican base,” Weber said. “Isolationism has spread among the base, but there are also many Republicans at the base who will be furious if we let the Russians win. He’s troubled in more ways than one. But he has to figure out what the right thing to do is and do it. It could cost him his speakership.”

Mr Johnson sees himself as the last man in the room standing up for conservative priorities, even as he has admitted to softening some of the demands of the far right. He has said he hopes to hit singles and not home runs during negotiations.

On spending bills, Mr. Johnson accuses Democrats of trying to make the legislation more liberal during negotiations. He is trying to convince conservatives on issues such as limiting spending on food stamps for the poor and eliminating funding for firearms background checks for some veterans deemed mentally incompetent — even as he has abandoned other sweeping demands.

On financing Ukraine, Mr. Johnson is insisting that the Biden administration first tackle migration across the United States border with Mexico before agreeing to introduce a bill to provide more foreign aid. He is attuned to polls showing that securing the border is a top priority for many Americans.

But it’s a lonely task with the rest of Washington’s power players aligned against him. That became clear Tuesday at the White House meeting, which participants described as a heated battle against Mr. Johnson, first at the hands of Mr. Biden and the three other leaders of Congress, and then in a brief exchange. -one conversation with the president.

“We told the speaker, ‘Just do it,’” Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, said of the Oval Office meeting, referring to the Ukraine aid package. “History looks over your shoulder. And if you don’t do the right thing, no matter what the immediate politics are, you will regret it.”

In some ways the situation Mr Johnson finds himself in is beyond his control. He has a weak hand. His party controls only half of one branch of government — with Democrats in control of the White House and Senate — and Republicans in his chamber have often proven fractious and ungovernable.

Moreover, Mr. Johnson is operating under rules agreed to by his predecessor, Mr. McCarthy, that have significantly weakened the speakership. The Rules Committee, through which most bills must pass before coming to the floor, is full of ultraconservatives, and any individual member can make a so-called motion to evict him, which would lead to a snap vote to impeach him — the fate that met the gentleman. McCarthy.

But Mr Johnson has also made decisions that have contributed to his problems. He has at times allowed himself to become more of a follower than a leader, and he has drawn red lines — as if pledging never again to agree to a short-term spending measure — only to be forced to cross them when he couldn’t had more money. other option to avoid a shutdown.

When faced with tough decisions, such as how to overhaul an expiring warrantless surveillance program or how to get controversial spending bills passed, Mr. Johnson has often chosen to delay deciding what to do. Like a beleaguered football coach running out of good options, he has regularly returned to the refuge of the stairs.

“We have now put to the test the theory that the speakership can be an excessively collaborative model of allowing everyone to weigh in and follow the prevailing whims,” said Mike Ricci, former top communications officer for Republican Speakers Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and John A. Boehner of Ohio. “It was clear from the start that there would be no major policy gains here. The worst thing you can do is over-promise and under-deliver, and then it gets bumped into the buzz saw again and again.”

But Republicans in the House of Representatives – both far-right and more mainstream members – often demand a speaker who will fight. Often members will accept compromise legislation, but only after a leader has fought a significant battle.

“Speaker Johnson is a man of character and seeks to take the pulse of the conference before he acts,” said Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, who represents a seat won by Biden and sees Mr. Johnson as a fighter for the Republican agenda . . “I think great policy is great politics. He worked to secure the border, but also helped Ukraine and Israel, and opposed the government shutdown. I supported his original agenda and I believe it is still correct.”

As Mr. Johnson stayed behind with Mr. Biden on Tuesday after the rest of the congressional leaders left, Democrats stood in the driveway outside, railing against the speaker’s position.

“We made it clear to him that we cannot wait, otherwise the war could be lost,” Mr. Schumer told reporters, adding: “He cannot say, ‘I will not do Ukraine until we reach the border .’ He tried to work on the border for six months and couldn’t come up with a single Democratic vote.”

Then it was Mr Johnson’s turn to address reporters.

He said he was “very optimistic” about avoiding a shutdown, which he called “our first responsibility,” but also emphasized that he would not withhold aid to Ukraine until the border is secure.

“It’s time for action,” he said. “It is a catastrophe and it must stop.”

Then Mr. Johnson walked away from the microphones alone.