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November 22, 2024
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THE TOP
Johnson gets the Greene light
Happy Friday morning.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) led a failed effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this year. Democrats ended up saving his job.
Greene has accused Johnson of having “aided and abetted the Democrats and the Biden administration in destroying our country”; slammed the speaker for failing to shut down the federal government to win an election-year fight with Democrats; suggested Johnson is part of the “Make Ukraine Great Again” movement and generally bashed the Louisiana Republican as a weak and ineffective leader.
Yet now, less than seven months later and with a subcommittee gavel soon-to-be in hand, the MAGA firebrand is expected to support Johnson’s reelection as speaker come January, according to multiple GOP sources familiar with Greene’s thinking.
What changed? Donald Trump winning the White House.
The support from Greene, a top Trump ally, is just the latest sign that Johnson is likely to encounter little Republican resistance in his quest for 218 votes on the House floor on Jan. 3.
The 52-year-old Johnson came into the job by default during an extremely chaotic chapter in the House Republican Conference’s history. Johnson has had his missteps and tough floor fights along the way, including the clash over Ukraine funding. Greene and 10 other hardline conservatives voted to remove Johnson from office after that, only to have Democrats bail him out.
Yet after more than a year in the speaker’s office and a successful election, Republicans across the conference believe Johnson has earned the gavel.
More importantly, that also includes Trump, who was initially unsure of what to make of Johnson and his accidental accession into the role, according to sources close to Trump. Now Trump holds a level of respect for the speaker and has spoken glowingly of Johnson, who was by his side all last weekend.
Trump’s approval is largely driving the overwhelming desire by House Republicans — including Greene — to unite behind Johnson and avoid a drawn-out speaker’s fight that could distract from Trump’s agenda next year.
“Trump obviously supports him,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy but has been supportive of Johnson. “[Trump’s] the big dog in the town, and nobody wants to tangle with him.”
Inside the effort to woo MTG: Aside from the Trump factor, Greene’s evolution from hardcore Johnson critic to likely team player can also be explained by a recent breakthrough in their frayed relationship.
After Greene grilled Johnson on a number of topics during last week’s leadership candidate forum — including how the speaker plans to handle government funding and Ukraine aid — the pair had a one-on-one meeting aimed at resetting their relationship.
That meeting came the same day that Trump privately addressed House Republicans and urged them to unify.
Taking a page from McCarthy’s playbook, Johnson directed House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) to work with Greene and find a way to give her a seat at the table, according to sources familiar with the situation.
What Comer and Greene landed on is establishing a brand new Oversight subcommittee — chaired by Greene — that will work closely with Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency.” The so-called DOGE commission is being led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Greene, who once had her committee assignments taken away by Democrats and some Republicans over her incendiary rhetoric, cheered the development, which was announced Thursday in a Fox News article.
“I can’t wait to get to work!!” Greene wrote on X.
Wild cards: We’re told there’s at least one House Republican who has privately indicated that they’re a “hard no” on voting for Johnson for speaker. Another option is to vote “present” as a way to register opposition without derailing Johnson’s reelection.
The final makeup of the House has yet to be finalized, but Johnson will only be able to lose a handful of votes on the floor.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a fierce Johnson critic who teamed up with Greene on the motion to vacate, didn’t respond to a request for comment over how he plans to vote in January. Massie, who was once targeted by Trump and initially backed Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis for president, only endorsed Trump during the election’s final stretch.
Other hardliners haven’t officially committed to Johnson just yet. They’re waiting to see how many conservatives serve on key panels like the House Rules and Ways and Means committees.
“We’re all still having our conversations,” conservative Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a Rules member, told us.
The House Freedom Caucus and Republican Main Street Caucus cut a deal last week on raising the threshold needed to file a motion to vacate. That deal will still need to be ratified by the House rules package, so it’s not set in stone quite yet.
— Melanie Zanona
NEW POWER PLAYERS: Join us for a conversation with Sens.-elect John Curtis (R-Utah) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 9 a.m. ET. We’re discussing news of the day and bipartisanship in the lame-duck session and new Congress. RSVP now!
THE TRANSITION
Gabbard nomination puts Senate GOP in a bind
Former Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, is on record calling for the U.S. government to “drop all charges” against Edward Snowden, wanting to repeal key intelligence-gathering tools and sometimes embracing Russian talking points regarding the wars in Syria and Ukraine.
That’s even before examining Gabbard’s foreign policy views, which are far outside the mainstream of American political discourse — and even further away from the center of gravity in the Senate Republican Conference.
It’s presenting a unique challenge for Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee. That panel — which is responsible for processing Gabbard’s nomination — is stacked with hawks on both sides of the dais.
Trump’s choice of Gabbard is in keeping with his desire to completely overhaul the federal bureaucracy. But GOP senators are already indicating they’ll be interested in probing Gabbard’s controversial and often outright hostile posture toward the very intelligence apparatus she’d run if confirmed.
The Snowden praise is particularly troubling to lawmakers, the vast majority of whom believe the NSA leaker caused irreparable damage to U.S. national security. Snowden is now a Russian citizen.
This is news: Republican senators have privately discussed their interest in viewing Gabbard’s FBI file, according to three sources familiar with the conversations. This is done for each Cabinet nominee, but the implication is that the documents could reveal previously unknown information about Gabbard, including possible foreign contacts.
For now, Republicans are treating Gabbard like every other Cabinet nominee, starting off with enormous deference to Trump and what they see as his mandate to govern. That means refraining from public criticisms of Trump’s nominees.
Yet key senators are making clear that their deference may not last forever. Here’s Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), an Intelligence Committee member:
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), another Intelligence Committee member, said he has “no doubt that she’s a patriot,” but he wants to question Gabbard on her posture toward Russia. Interestingly, Cornyn gave a floor speech this week praising Trump’s national security nominees by name, but he didn’t mention Gabbard.
When asked about Gabbard’s FISA opposition, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who also sits on the Intelligence panel, called it “an essential tool” for national security but noted that “people’s views can change over the years as they learn more.”
Collins added that Gabbard is “a nominee that illustrates the importance of a full background check, a public hearing, and the constitutional role of the Senate.”
Trump team’s outlook: Gabbard will begin her formal meetings with senators after Thanksgiving, and has already held informal calls. Gabbard has uniquely close relationships with senators in both parties. At least three sitting GOP senators were elected to the House in the same class as Gabbard in 2012.
Alexa Henning, a Trump transition spokesperson, said in a statement that Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, “will protect our national security and defend against any effort to use the work of our intelligence agencies as weapons against Americans.”
The transition team is pointing to statements like that of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a noted hawk, to push back against Gabbard’s critics. Graham called Gabbard “extremely bright and capable” while acknowledging their disagreements on foreign policy.
Gabbard’s sherpa — the staffer responsible for shepherding a nominee through the Senate confirmation process — is Kristan Nevins, a longtime GOP hand who worked at the CIA and in the Trump administration as Cabinet Secretary. Nevins currently works at Blackstone.
— Andrew Desiderio
DAWG FIGHT
Carter emerges as Ga. Senate contender
News: Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) is emerging as a potential contender to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in 2026.
Many top Republicans are hoping that popular two-term GOP Gov. Brian Kemp jumps into the race. But if Kemp decides to pass up a Senate run, Carter indicated he’d be interested in a statewide bid.
“Let’s see what the governor does,” Carter told us this week. “If the governor runs, he will clear the field in a Republican primary. If he doesn’t run, we’ll see. God’s got a plan.”
Carter also took a clear shot at Ossoff last week in a social media post that raised eyebrows in GOP circles. The Georgia Republican accused Ossoff of “already running scared” and tied him to the Biden administration.
Carter, 67, has represented a Savannah-area seat since 2015. The Republican unsuccessfully sought to lead the House Budget Committee last cycle and is a senior member of the powerful Energy and Commerce panel.
Carter came to Congress after serving several years in the Georgia legislature. He also owned a successful South Georgia pharmacy.
Ossoff will be one of the most vulnerable Democratic senators in 2026. After voting for President Joe Biden in 2020, Georgia voters swung to the right this November and backed President-elect Donald Trump.
Since winning a six-year term as a 33-year-old in 2020, Ossoff has largely avoided the national spotlight and trained his focus on hyper-local issues.
In recent weeks, Ossoff reportedly pushed for state party chair Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) to step down from her post. Ossoff has refused to publicly speak about his relationship with Williams.
GOP view: A constant frustration for Georgia Republicans is their failure to secure the state’s two Senate seats. Controversial GOP nominee Herschel Walker advanced to a runoff against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in 2022 but fell short. Kemp is seen as a top-tier Senate candidate that Republicans have been lacking.
Kemp told Fox News this week that he expected to be courted by Senate Republicans to run against Ossoff. But the governor may also have his eyes on a White House run in 2028, opening the door for other Republicans to enter the Senate primary.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) called Carter “a viable candidate” but said that “there’s probably not going to be a shortage of candidates.”
Carter’s House colleagues agreed that Kemp is the prohibitive favorite. But Trump’s endorsement will matter.
“If Brian Kemp wants to be the nominee for U.S. senator for the state of Georgia, I think Brian Kemp will be the nominee,” Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) said. “If Kemp is not in the race, it’s whoever Trump endorses.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a top Trump ally, blasted Ossoff for voting with national Democrats. Greene said that “a Trump-aligned candidate that’s proven themselves could easily beat Jon Ossoff.”
It’s worth noting that Trump floated the idea of MTG running for Senate during a rally last year.
Democrats aren’t tuning in quite yet. Warnock told us this week he had “no idea” what Republicans were jockeying to take on Ossoff.
— Mica Soellner and Max Cohen
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SENATE DEMS
Murphy’s case for populism
New: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is circulating a polling memo arguing that Democrats need to embrace populism to win back working-class voters.
Murphy is trying to position himself as a leading Democratic voice as the party grapples with a brutal election cycle. Murphy argues that a “populist message of power deconcentration is a truly unifying message — across income brackets and political ideologies.”
“Democrats must reclaim our identity as the party of the working class,” Murphy wrote in the memo. His solution? Have Democrats talk about “why corporations and billionaires have too much” and why Democrats “are the only party that is serious about putting that power back in the hands of workers.”
Here’s one tidbit from the polling, conducted internally by the Murphy campaign in Connecticut:
Most of the respondents, 82%, “either strongly or somewhat agree that one of the biggest problems facing America today is that a handful of corporations and economic elites have too much power and the government is doing too little about it.”
Seven in 10 Republicans, 92% of Democrats and 81% of independents agreed with the statement.
— Max Cohen
PUNCHBOWL NEWS EVENTS
Womack on GOP trifecta, appropriations and defense policy
Did you miss our event with Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) Thursday focused on the future of defense and industrial policy?
Womack discussed a wide range of issues, including his frustrations with the use of continued resolutions and the need for public-private partnerships to bolster defense innovation.
Watch the full conversation here.
— Samantha Bell
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Millions of Americans love using their credit cards and rely on them for rewards that help cover gas, groceries, and travel. The Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill puts these rewards in jeopardy. Congress: oppose the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill!