Speaker Mike Johnson’s push to advance an aid package for Ukraine in the face of vehement opposition from his own party was never going to be easy. But it has been made even more politically perilous by a pair of concessions to the far right that he inherited from his predecessor: allowing a single lawmaker […]
Read MoreTag: Johnson, Mike (1972- )
Is Trump’s Trial Really About ‘Hush Money’?
As former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial begins, there is one battle taking place in a Manhattan courtroom, where he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. But there is another fight taking place in the court of public opinion, which concerns a much more basic question: What should this trial even be […]
Read MoreJohnson Pushes Ahead on Bill for Israel and Ukraine Aid, Teeing Up Weekend Vote
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday told Republicans that the House would vote Saturday evening on his foreign aid package for Israel and Ukraine, pushing through resistance in his own party to advance a long-stalled national security spending package for U.S. allies. His announcement came amid a crush of opposition from Republicans who are vehemently against […]
Read MoreJohnson Needs Democrats on Ukraine, Handing Them Power to Shape Aid Plan
Speaker Mike Johnson’s elaborate plan for pushing aid to Ukraine through the House over his own party’s objections relies on an unusual strategy: He is counting on House Democrats and their leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, to provide the votes necessary to clear the way for it to come to the floor. If […]
Read MoreJohnson’s Plan for Ukraine Aid Meets Republican Pushback, Muddying Its Path
Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday encountered stiff resistance from Republicans as he embarked on a complicated and politically perilous strategy to push legislation through the House to send aid to Israel and Ukraine — all while beating back a threat to his own job. Mr. Johnson, who has agonized for months over whether and how […]
Read MoreHouse Delivers Impeachment Articles Against Mayorkas, Calling for a Trial
After two months of delay, House Republicans on Tuesday delivered articles of impeachment against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, to the Senate, as they demanded a full trial. Constitutional scholars have called the case against Mr. Mayorkas groundless, and the Democrats who control the Senate have made it clear that they want to […]
Read MoreJohnson Says the House Will Vote on an Israel Bill in the Coming Days
Speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday after Iran’s overnight attack on Israel that the House would vote in the coming days on aid for Israel, and he suggested that aid for Ukraine could be included in the legislation. “House Republicans and the Republican Party understand the necessity of standing with Israel,” Mr. Johnson said on […]
Read MoreTrump and Mike Johnson to Make Announcement on ‘Election Integrity’
Speaker Mike Johnson had a difficult week. He is facing a revolt from one of the most conservative members of his caucus that could cost him his job. The prospect of providing additional aid to Ukraine continues to meet opposition. And it took three tries for the House to renew a warrantless surveillance bill. Then, […]
Read MoreJohnson Floats Voting on Senate Ukraine Bill, With Conservative Policies as Sweeteners
Shortly after congressional leaders met with Japan’s prime minister in Speaker Johnson’s ceremonial office in the Capitol on Thursday morning, the conversation turned to Ukraine aid. Mr. Johnson was in the middle of another agonizing standoff with the ultraconservatives in his conference, after they had blocked legislation to extend a major warrantless surveillance law that […]
Read MoreWhat Is the Powerful Surveillance Law That Divided Lawmakers?
The House on Friday passed a two-year reauthorization of an expiring warrantless surveillance law known as Section 702, reversing course after the bill collapsed days earlier when former President Donald J. Trump urged his allies to “kill” it. But disappointing privacy advocates, the House narrowly rejected a longstanding proposal to require warrants to search for […]
Read MoreOcasio-Cortez Never Steered Money to a Key Arm of Her Party. Until Now.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made her first-ever contribution to the campaign arm of House Democrats — a $260,000 donation that is a milestone in the New York Democrat’s long and complicated relationship with her own party’s political establishment. In an interview, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said her decision to give to the campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional […]
Read MoreSurveillance Bill Clears Key Hurdle in House, Putting It Back on Track
The House took a critical first step on Friday toward reauthorizing a law extending an expiring warrantless surveillance law that national security officials say is crucial to fighting terrorism, voting to take it up two days after a previous attempt to pass it collapsed. Grasping to salvage the measure before the law expires next week, […]
Read MoreTrump to Meet Mike Johnson at Mar-a-Lago as Their Ties Fray
Speaker Mike Johnson may not have a functional majority in Congress, but his job is similar to the Republicans who preceded him in at least one respect: The duties include the difficult task of managing Donald J. Trump. Mr. Johnson on Friday will travel to Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s Florida estate, to join him for what […]
Read MoreJohnson to Join Trump at Mar-a-Lago for ‘Election Integrity’ Announcement
Speaker Mike Johnson plans on Friday to join former President Donald J. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to make what he called a “major announcement on election integrity.” It was not immediately clear what the pair were planning to discuss at their joint appearance, though Mr. Trump has continued to insist falsely that […]
Read MoreAfter Trump Broadside, Surveillance Bill Teeters in the House
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday faced a buzz saw of Republican opposition to his bid to extend a warrantless surveillance law that national security officials call crucial to their efforts to fight terrorism, after former President Donald J. Trump urged lawmakers to kill the legislation. Republican leaders said they would plunge ahead with a midday […]
Read MoreAs Speaker, Johnson Advances What He Once Opposed, Enraging the Right
As a low-profile, rank-and-file congressman representing his deeply red district, Representative Mike Johnson took the positions of a hard-liner. He repeatedly voted down efforts to send aid to Ukraine, citing insufficient oversight of where the money would go. He opposed the stopgap funding bill that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy put on the House floor in efforts […]
Read MoreGreene Escalates Threat Against Johnson, Making the Case for His Ouster
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday escalated her threat to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, distributing a scathing letter that made the case for his removal and took Republicans to task for tolerating his leadership. In a five-page memo sent to her colleagues on Tuesday morning, a copy of which was obtained by The New York […]
Read MoreHelp Ukraine Hold the Line
After more than two years of brutal, unrelenting war, Ukraine is still ready and has the capacity to defend its democracy and territory against Russia. But it cannot do so without American military assistance, which the United States had assured the Ukrainians would be there as long as it was needed. A majority of Americans […]
Read MoreDwindling Ammunition Stocks Pose Grave Threat to Ukraine
The crew at an artillery position in eastern Ukraine had 33 shells in its ammunition bunker, stacked neatly like firewood against a wall. Then came an order to fire. Twenty minutes later, smoke wafted around a howitzer and 17 shells were gone — more than half the crew’s ammunition. The rapidly depleted stack was emblematic […]
Read MoreG.O.P. Congressman’s Wild Claim: F.B.I. Entrapped Jan. 6 Rioters
Even by a conspiracy theorist’s standards, the wild claims made by Representative Clay Higgins, Republican of Louisiana, stand out. The hard-right congressman, now in his fourth term in the House, has said that “ghost buses” took agent provocateurs to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to instigate the riot. He has claimed that the federal […]
Read MoreG.O.P. Congressman’s Wild Claim: F.B.I. Entrapped Jan. 6 Rioters
Even by a conspiracy theorist’s standards, the wild claims made by Representative Clay Higgins, Republican of Louisiana, stand out. The hard-right congressman, now in his fourth term in the House, has said that “ghost buses” took agent provocateurs to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to instigate the riot. He has claimed that the federal […]
Read More‘Pretty Big Bunny, Huh?’: Biden Hosts White House Easter Egg Roll
Bunny ears. Rain slickers. Sixty-four thousand hard-boiled eggs. Under rainy skies, President Biden on Monday hosted the White House Easter Egg Roll, a tradition so wholesome and old-fashioned that it often simply transcends Washington politics. “Easter reminds us of the power of hope and renewal, sacrifice and resurrection, but mainly, love and grace toward one […]
Read MoreJohnson Outlines Plan for Ukraine Aid; House Could Act Within Weeks
Speaker Mike Johnson has begun publicly laying out potential conditions for extending a fresh round of American military assistance to Ukraine, the strongest indication yet that he plans to push through the House a package that many Republicans view as toxic and have tried to block. His terms may include tying the aid for Kyiv […]
Read MoreTrump Is Financially Ruining the Republican Party
Donald Trump is someone you should think carefully about hitching your financial fortunes to. The guy is a gifted carnival barker, no doubt. But when it comes to serious business, he is a bad bet. Many of his ventures, from vodka and steaks to casinos and “university” degrees, have flopped like dying fish. Declaring corporate […]
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