Democrats’ Plan to Save the Republican House Speaker

from New York Times I'm Michael Boro. this is the. [Music]. daily today Against All Odds and. expectations Republican house Speaker. Mike Johnson keeps managing to fund the. government inflame the farri of his. party and still hold on to his job now. as he prepares for his riskiest move to. date I speak with my colleague Katie.

Edmonson about why it may be Democrats. who save his. [Music]. [Applause]. speakership it's Wednesday March. [Music]. 27th Katie I'd like to start with this. dramatic scene that played out.

in the House of Representatives a few. days ago you happen to be in the room. for it so just describe it that's right. well I was sitting in the Press Gallery. in the house chamber Friday morning. watching for a spending vote to go. through and instead what caught my. attention was congresswoman margorie. Taylor green the farri lawmaker from. Georgia striding down the center of the. aisle on the house floor and she marched. up to the house Clerk's desk and she put. a piece of paper in into the Hopper into.

the basket for legislation that sits on. the house Clerk's desk mhm it. immediately set off a rumor mail about. what that piece of paper potentially. could be and sure enough minutes later. we learned that she was essentially. taking the first step in the process to. call a snap vote to OU speaker Mike. Johnson and minutes later congresswoman. green walks Down The House steps where I. and a number of other reporters were.

waiting uh this is a betrayal of the. American people this is a betrayal of. Republican voters and she said what set. this into motion was that speaker Mike. Johnson had just again relied on. Democrats to push through a spending. Bill to keep the government funded this. bill was basically a dream and a and a. wish list for Democrats and for the. white house uh it was completely led by. Chuck Schumer not our Republican speaker. of the house that many Republicans in. fact a majority of Republicans in the.

conference opposed our country is in. crisis and we need real leaders that. know how to fight that know how to walk. in a room and don't get rolled by the. Deep State and don't get rolled by the. Democrats and she said that Mike Johnson. needed to be put on notice I am saying. the clock has started it's time for our. conference to choose a new speaker do. you believe that. areans at which point those of us. watching from home are all thinking to. ourselves here we go again we are are.

about to lose another house speaker to. angry farri House Republicans who of. course deposed the last speaker Kevin. McCarthy in the fall for similar. ideological offenses not being far right. enough on first glance it does seem like. a case of deja vu but I actually think. that this instance is going to turn out. to be very different than the last. iteration of this we saw with speaker.

Kevin McCarthy H why would that be Katie. why do we think it's not going to be the. deja vu that it really looks like well I. think to understand the full Arc or the. full trajectory of his speakership we. kind of have to rewind back to when he. was initially elected speaker and if you. remember when he was elected in October. this was seen as a really big victory. for the far right as a rank and file. member Congressman Mike Johnson was.

super conservative a super Evangelical. Christian anti-abortion anti-s spending. far-right Republicans felt that they had. just elected really one of their own to. the speakership someone who was going to. bow to their preferences and bring them. to the table in a way that they felt. speaker Kevin McCarthy never really did. and we got our first test as to how. speaker Johnson was going to manage the. far right flank of of his conference.

almost immediately when he had to decide. whether he was going to keep the. government funded right this was exactly. the same situation that Kevin McCarthy. found himself in that's right and look. it was not a foregone conclusion that he. would follow in former speaker Kevin. McCarthy's footsteps I had questions. when he was initially elected as to. whether he would let parts of the. government shut down whether he would. allow a total government shutdown to. show the farri right that he really was. one of them to show that he was going to. put up this.

[Music]. fight and in fact he did the opposite. over and over again over the next 5. months when he was faced repeatedly with. these funding. [Music]. deadlines each time he made the. calculation we are not going to let the. government shut down he made the. calculation that if he wanted to keep. the government funded he knew with his. razor thin majority he was going to have. to turn to democrats for votes and that. what he.

did right and what you had told us when. that was happening was allowances were. being made for Johnson from the far. right because he was one of them but the. question was how long could he claim to. be one of the far right when he was. repeatedly in their eyes betraying them. by working with Democrats to get. spending bills passed that this far. right group of lawmakers hated yeah. that's right Congress ended up having to. pass all of these short term stop Gap.

spending bills to keep the government. funded they kept kicking the can down. the road and that brings us to this vote. on Friday on the latest spending bill. that he had to push through it was the. final package to make sure the. government is funded through this fiscal. [Music]. year this package included bills to fund. the Department of Homeland Security. which obviously has been a huge touch. point for them in terms of their. dissatisfaction with what's happening at.

the southern border so this was always. going to be a very politically tricky. tranch of packages for negotiators to. get through and what ends up being. proposed in this final spending Bill to. keep the government open well it ends up. looking kind of like an old school. compromise bill in that no one is. entirely happy with it but that there. are wins for both parties to take home. and sell to their base and so for.

Democrats they got uh $1 billion in new. spending for child care subsidies for. lowincome families for Head Start Early. Education and for conservatives there. was a lot of additional money in this. bill to beef up security at the southern. border so that was more money for. additional border patrol officers more. money for additional detention beds for. immigration enforcement.

facilities so on paper it seems as. though you know this is a bill that at. least moderate or more Centrist. Republicans will be able to get behind. right but in fact what we see on the. house floor when this bill is put to a. vote is that not only do the farri. Republicans in the conference oppose it. but actually a majority of speaker Mike. Johnson's conference opposes the bill. and why was that well I think part of it. is simply the Topline number $1.2.

trillion was the price tag on this bill. and that is just a really big number for. lawmakers to wrap their heads around. particularly if you are a conservative. member who has been saying for months. that you want the Republican speaker to. use their gavel to try to reduce federal. spending got it and so in order to pass. this bill speaker Johnson again relies. on almost all Democrats really to push. this through and when the vote is and. tallied we see that more than half of.

his conference has in fact opposed this. spill they voted it down right what you. have told us in the past ktie is an. important mathematical equation when. less than half of Republicans vote on. something proposed by a republican. speaker it is basically considered the. political equivalent of a cardinal sin. yeah that's right I mean The Unofficial. rule within the house Republican. conference is that a republican speaker. is not even supposed to elow a vote on.

legislation if he knows that less than. half of his conference supports it so. that's how we get to Marjorie Taylor. green putting this piece of paper in the. hopper starting this process of. attempting to oust speaker Johnson yeah. that's right so we're back to this. question of why isn't this likely to be. the beginning of the end for Johnson it. certainly looks like he has done the. deed that would cost him his job here. well one of the interesting things about. this whole situation is that.

congresswoman green has intentionally. structured this bill that she filed to. essentially leave this threat lingering. over speaker Mike Johnson's head this is. going to be a slow boil she's not. calling for an immediate snap vote she's. going to kind of let it linger and let. him squirm a little bit right but the. other thing is that it's not clear that. the math is on her side obviously after. she did this we immediately went and.

asked Republicans who voted to OU. McCarthy if they were on board for a. second go essentially and a lot of them. were very squeamish about the idea it's. very unclear whether margorie Taylor. green even has the support within the. Republican conference to oust Mike. Johnson but of course if you remember a. huge factor in all of this is what. Democrats decide to do right when it. came to the ouster of speaker Kevin. McCarthy Democrats ultimately decided.

sure we're going to join in with this. motion to oust him and it's not clear. that that's the case for Mike Johnson at. all and in fact there have been. conversations internally among democrats. for weeks even before margorie Taylor. green files this resolution talking. about maybe they should try to save him. if someone does try to OU him and why. would that be because it's deeply. unintuitive Democrats trying to save.

this house Speaker they didn't do it. last time why would they do it with. Johnson well the first thing to say is. that honestly a lot of Democrats. genuinely and personally despised former. speaker Kevin McCarthy in a way that. they don't with speaker Mike Johnson. Hakeem Jeff told us last month that they. view Mike Johnson as more of a blank. slate but it goes beyond. [Music]. that I don't think Democrats would save.

Mike Johnson for free so to speak and. what would be their price well their. price would be for speaker Mike Johnson. to allow aid for Ukraine to come to a. vote on the house floor this is a huge. priority for Democrats to make sure that. the United States continues to help ke. fend off Russian aggression that they. are now talking about if speaker Johnson. were to allow that to come to a vote if. it were to pass it might be enough for.

them to cross party lines and vote to. save Mike Johnson if a republican tried. to oust. him we'll be right. [Music]. back Katie you just said that speaker. Johnson might end up being saved by. house Democrats because he may push. through funding for Ukraine but my. recollection is that speaker Johnson has. been hugely res resistant to passing.

funding for Ukraine he's avoided doing. it over and over and over again so help. me understand that that's right as a. rank and file Congressman he repeatedly. voted against sending Aid to Ukraine and. within the first few months of his. speakership we saw it was an issue that. he just really did not want to touch. that he did not want to bring up aid for. a vote really did not want to talk too. much about his thinking on it but over. the past few weeks we started to see. some of his calculations on Ukraine.

start to change H in what way well it's. been kind of interesting to watch the. tight RPP that he's walking here because. publicly initially he was keeping his. statements very vague he never really. wanted to address Ukraine AIDS. specifically but I started to hear in. private conversations behind closed. doors he started sounding much more. sympathetic to the plight of the. Ukrainian Ians that he started.

telegraphing a willingness to put some. type of Aid package for Ukraine on the. house floor H I heard from a donor for. example who attended a fundraiser last. month that the speaker attended in which. he gave what sounded like really kind of. a rousing monologue about how he is a. Reagan Republican he believes in peace. through strength he believes the United. States has a role to play on the global.

stage when it comes to fending off. authoritarians you said Putin is a. madman and the United States has a role. to play and we're going to do our job we. start hearing that he is making sort of. similar comments to. lawmakers and this all I think comes to. a head at the end of last week and he. puts out a statement saying when. lawmakers return to Washington from. their Easter recet we are going to.

consider aidid for. Ukraine and what explains why speaker. Johnson would suddenly want to fund. Ukraine and kick yet another Hornet's. Nest in the pantheon of things that the. far right does not like well part of it. is that Senate Democrats had already. called speaker Johnson's Bluff on this. issue so starting late last year he had. tried to put off off a vote on Ukraine.

Aid in the house by saying that in order. to bring up the issue Democrats first. needed to agree to sweeping changes on. the border thinking probably the. Democrats would never agree to it. instead Senate Democrats went ahead and. actually negotiated a deal and speaker. Johnson rejected that package and Senate. Republicans followed his lead and voted. it down and so now when it comes to. Ukraine Democrats are looking at speaker. Johnson and saying okay you know we gave. you what you wanted what's your excuse.

now for not letting this Aid come to a. vote right but I also think one of the. big things that's changed here for Mike. Johnson as speaker is that he is now. carrying this very heavy. responsibility he has talked to donors. about how shortly after being elected. speaker how he went to the situation. room and he received these briefings. from the president's cabinets on the. situation in Ukraine he is now meeting.

with all of these leaders of NATO. countries and so part of the message. that he is hearing when he's in these. rooms with Biden officials NATO allies. is do you really want to be person who. is solely responsible for blocking this. aid from getting to keev that is a. really heavy message to internalize so. what we should understand to have. perhaps happened to Speaker Johnson when. it comes to.

Ukraine is a little bit of the journey. he seems to have gone on when it comes. to these spending bills which is he has. come to terms with the true Stakes of. his job of what it means to not just be. a far-right member of the house but the. speaker of the entire institution and as. a result is ready to or seemingly ready. to make some pretty big IDI ological.

leaps yeah I think that's exactly right. essentially as soon as he became speaker. he was met with these high stakes. occasions the first of which making sure. the government did not shut down now he. is being forced to confront this. question of whether to continue sending. Aid to Ukraine and his decision on that. putting some sort of Aid package to a. vote will probably be the most. politically risky move he's ever. made H why is that even riskier than the.

spending bills for instance the issue of. sending a Ukraine has become such a. toxic issue for Republican voters it's a. deeply emotional issue to be honest with. you in a way that spending just is not. there's some component of I think among. Republican voters a sense of unfairness. right why are we sending this money to. another country instead of spending it. on our own citizens that really.

resonates for people and Republican. lawmakers certainly are acutely aware of. this but as you've told us Johnson has. made it clear that he will take up this. money for Ukraine very soon so my. question is how does he do that in a way. that could possibly get through the. house without triggering a vote to aou. him or if it does trigger a vote to atin. which perhaps inevitably it would how. does he ensure that Democrats who want. this UK funding like this bill enough.

that they will cross party lines and. save him well there's a whole men of. options being considered and it's my. understanding that the speaker himself. is not really circled around any one. particular option what Democrats would. love to see him do would be to just put. the senate pass Aid package on the floor. for a vote M but at the same time that. is exactly what Republicans would hate. to see him do and so we're now in this.

realm where speaker Johnson is searching. for a path forward that is going to. incite the least amount of backlash from. his own conference but also hopefully. keep Democrats happy enough that they. potentially would still vote to save him. from an ouer if it came to that KY it. sounds like no matter what this Ukraine. funding package ultimately looks like. it's going to need a lot of democratic. house votes to pass and that these. far-right Republicans like margorie.

Taylor green will be furious and this. could very well I have to imagine be the. moment that a la maker like her says. that's it we are done with Mike Johnson. and if she succeeds in trying to do that. I know the math is wonky but if she. succeeds I'm curious how Democrats are. going to ultimately make the decision of. whether to take the unprecedented step. of saving a republican house. Speaker well that would be quite the. scenario I think what it would look like.

is a long series of probably quite. intense discussions among the Democratic. caucus where they would have to weigh do. we feel like Mike Johnson was an honest. broker here did he deliver for Ukraine. and look you know Michael A lot of them. have for weeks now individually been. floating the idea that they would vote. to save him if he did quote unquote the. right thing on Ukraine and so would have. to think that these promises would also.

weigh pretty heavily over their. calculations because what is the point. of trying to get things done in a sort. of coalition government if you pull the. rug out under the leader at the last. moment there's a word you just use that. feels very important in thinking about. this moment Katie and it's the word. Coalition we tend to think of our. government especially the house as. deeply partisan Democrat Republican but. time and again over the past year year.

and a half what we're seeing because the. chamber is so closely split is something. resembling coalition government in. foreign countries where these occasional. Cobble together groups that seem very. unexpected get things done and if that. were to happen with Ukraine especially. it starts to feel like we have something. resembling a somewhat functioning house. of representatives does that feel right.

yeah I think so I mean you have to. remember again let's not give them too. much credit this is a very low bar that. we're talking about here you know we've. been calling it a governing Coalition. but it's really more of an emergency. system to keep everything from going off. the rails right this is making sure the. government is not shut down and. potentially a coalition emerging to. continue sending Aid to a democracy that. is fending off the advances of an. authoritarian that being said said I. think you are right to point out that.

time and time again on these important. decisions the far right has essentially. box themselves out of discussions. because it's become very clear that they. will not support anything that really. could become law and it is a stark. departure from where they started the. beginning of the year I remember when it. became very clear that House Republicans. were going to have the majority but that. it was going to be a tiny majority a lot. of of these Freedom caucus members.

crowing about the fact that this was. going to force the Republican speaker. into going into coalition government. with them it would force the Republican. speaker to bow to their preferences to. their. whims and instead what we've seen is the. opposite they have pushed the Republican. speaker whether it is Kevin McCarthy or. Mike Johnson into the arms of Democrats. and in the process kind of rendered. themselves powerless. right instead of holding their speaker.

hostage instead of holding the entire. house hostage and really dictating the. terms of these big. debates they've become really less and. less relevant yeah I think the story of. this Congress is that when you have a. group like the far-right freedom caucus. who just says no to everything all the. time then you essentially deal yourself. out of the process at Key moments and.

the end result of it has been that. everyone else in Congress has decided. the only way to move forward is to work. around. them well Katie thank you very much we. appreciate it thanks. [Music]. Michael we'll be right. [Music]. back.

here's what else you need to know today. so I'm worried that there is a. significant mismatch in this case. between the claimed injury and the. remedy that's being sought during oral. arguments on Tuesday a majority of the. Supreme Court's justices appeared to. reject an effort by conservatives to.

limit access to a widely used abortion. pill the case revolves around a lawsuit. brought by anti-abortion doctors and. groups who accused the FDA of unlawfully. expanding access to mistone which is. used in about 60% of. abortions but both conservative and. liberal justices including Justice. katoni Brown Jackson questioned whether. the small small group of doctors. challenging the FDA had suffered the.

type of direct harm that would give them. the legal grounds to bring the case in. the first place they're saying because. we object to having to be forced to. participate in this procedure we're. seeking in order preventing anyone from. having access to these drugs at all and. I guess I'm just trying to understand. how they could possibly be entitled to. that given the injury that they have. alleged. and authorities are blaming the collapse.

of a major bridge in Baltimore on a. cargo ship that had lost power moments. before it collided with the. structure the collapse of the Francis. Key Scott Bridge which occurred at. around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday sent at. least eight construction workers into. the water below six of them are still. missing the ship's crew had issued a maj. day call shortly after losing power.

giving officials a chance to stop cars. from crossing the bridge and likely. preventing an even greater. [Music]. tragedy today's episode was produced by. Olivia Nat Ricky nety and Jessica Chong. it was edited by MJ Davis Lynn with help. from Rachel quer contains original music. by Dan Powell Alicia beu and Marian.

Lozano and was engineered by Alyssa. Moxley our theme music is by Jim. brunberg and Ben lfk of. [Music]. wonderly that's it for the daily I'm. meloro see you. [Music]. tomorrow.