Whoever this guy might be, he’s not a nominee for the Earl Landgrebe award, is he? Not a devotee to the President:
Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:
“This entire White House team has treated ALL members like garbage. ALL. And Mike Johnson has let it happen because he wanted it to happen. That is the sentiment of nearly all — appropriators, authorizers, hawks, doves, rank and file. The arrogance of this White House team is off putting to members who are run roughshod and threatened. They don’t even allow little wins like announcing small grants or even responding from agencies. Not even the high profile, the regular rank and file random members are more upset than ever. Members know they are going into the minority after the midterms.
“More explosive early resignations are coming. It’s a tinder box. Morale has never been lower. Mike Johnson will be stripped of his gavel and they will lose the majority before this term is out.” [Punchbowl News]
Second bold mine.
It’s been apparent, since Day 1 of this Congress, that the House GOP would be vulnerable at the end of this cycle because of mass incompetence in both the White House and the House of Representatives. Even with a Democratic Party which is remarkably resistant to self-analysis and education, the GOP is in deep trouble.
How it all falls out will be not only fascinating, but remarkable. What if certain GOP members decide not to vacate when defeated, addicted to their positions of prestige? Will they have to be forcibly ejected? Will Speaker Johnson lose his re-election to the House? While I’m not historian, the grasping for power allied with vast incompetence is an explosive combination.
And notice what this anonymous Republican says at the end: Mike Johnson will be stripped of his gavel and they will lose the majority before this term is out. While it sounds far-fetched to me, it’s still a possibility. A few resignations from caucus or the House, a few Republicans requesting a new Speaker election, and we might see a new Speaker. Heck, if this guy is right, we might even see Johnson … expelled! Sounds like madness, doesn’t it?
In the end, will this make Democrats mistakenly confident in the rightness of their causes? Or will they be smart enough to backtrack on mistaken procedures (note I do not say position) and try to win back the trust of the independent voter?
