The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Johnson and MTG win and lose

New threats from Kaine, Warner as Senate labors to pass FAA bill

CHC pushes for Biden meeting as admin weighs asylum changes

The Senate’s Julie Su conundrum

Highlights from The Atlantic Council awards

THE TOP

Johnson and MTG win and lose

Happy Thursday morning.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) hugely controversial attempt to oust Speaker Mike Johnson failed miserably on Wednesday. Just 11 Republicans voted to consider ditching Johnson, a measly 5% of the House Republican Conference.

But this is the House, an institution where power isn’t always measured at the surface level. Power is often a perception that becomes a reality. During this episode, both Greene and Johnson had wins and both suffered some embarrassing losses.

Johnson’s wins: Johnson’s allies were working us over very hard following the vote to say why their guy was in great shape after Greene failed to oust him. We’ll make that judgment, thanks.

Let’s start here: Johnson is still speaker. A whopping 196 House Republicans voted to table the motion to vacate the speaker’s chair, plus 163 Democrats. By an overwhelming margin, the House declared it didn’t want a replay of October’s debacle with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“I want to say that I appreciate the show of confidence from my colleagues to defeat this misguided effort, that is certainly what it was,” Johnson said afterward. “Hopefully, this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress.”

Johnson’s aides and allies kept asserting that not all 11 Republicans who voted against the motion to table would vote against Johnson if there were a speaker election tomorrow. Maybe so, maybe not. We heard McCarthy’s friends tell us for months that he’d never be ousted from the job. There’s often a dangerous combination of tunnel vision and delusion in the House Republican Conference.

One of the other upsides for Johnson is that he now knows precisely where his problems are beyond Greene and Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) — the three original supporters of the motion to vacate. Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) voted to dump McCarthy and opposed the motion to table too.

Johnson’s losses: The Louisiana Republican looks weak. Alarmingly weak.

First, Johnson bucked many of his leadership colleagues when he decided last month not to rework the motion to vacate as part of the Ukraine aid package. Much of the House GOP leadership wanted to make it harder to do what Greene just did — call a snap vote on his speakership. Johnson didn’t and suffered the consequences.

Johnson has a Trump problem. Johnson has been hugging former President Donald Trump as closely as possible for the last few months. Johnson held a news conference with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, appeared at the Trump campaign’s donor retreat, devoted the top of his news conference earlier this week to saying the charges against Trump are bogus, and stood with Trump’s allies on the Capitol steps Wednesday to push a bill making something illegal that’s already illegal. All this helped him.

Yet on Wednesday, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social that backed Johnson while still leaving the door open to dumping him:

This is Trump 101. Trump helped Johnson, but he’s also keeping the Louisiana Republican on a short string. Welcome to Trump’s world, Mr. Speaker.

The larger problem for Johnson, as we’ve written several times, is that Greene or other Republicans can bring this motion again. And if that happens, there’s no guarantee Democrats will save him.

Greene’s wins: From the beginning of this process more than six weeks ago, Greene said her goal was to get Republicans on the record voting with Democrats to save Johnson. It’s certainly unconventional for a lawmaker to force a vote designed to embarrass members of their own party. But that was MTG’s stated objective and she achieved it.

And 11 no votes on tabling the motion was more than Johnson or other top House Republicans were expecting. Senior GOP aides told us they anticipated fewer than five Republicans would line up with Greene. If Democrats hadn’t saved Johnson, the House would be in the midst of another ugly floor fight for speaker.

Greene’s losses: Let’s be clear. Greene lost badly here. She was unable to boot Johnson even after he green-lighted $61 billion of new Ukraine aid, mostly with Democratic votes. That was supposed to be the red line for Republicans.

Johnson’s patience for Greene is clearly wearing thin. The normally unflappable Johnson has derided her as an unserious lawmaker. Then Johnson ostentatiously rolled his eyes when we asked him Tuesday about the speed with which he would respond to Greene’s demands.

Greene has isolated herself within the Republican Conference by this latest maneuver, no matter how much cred she picked up with outside groups and conservative media. That won’t help Greene get any of what she wants.

— Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan

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THE SENATE

New threats from Kaine, Warner as Senate labors to pass FAA bill

The Senate is staring down yet another deadline with no clear path to avert a lapse in the FAA’s authority tomorrow at midnight.

A little bit of “Senate magic” and Thursday afternoon jet fumes can always combine to bring about bipartisan cooperation, but the Senate’s FAA problem only got more complicated as the week went on.

Here’s the state of play.

“Everybody’s got holds on this right now,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune lamented.

News: The Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport slots issue is heating up. Virginia Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are out with a new statement this morning vowing to block the one-week extension until they get a guarantee that their amendment — which nixes a provision adding new flight slots at DCA — gets a vote.

“We can’t in good conscience greenlight that plan until we have a commitment that there will be an opportunity to put our amendment to a vote,” the pair said in a statement.

For what it’s worth, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the GOP floor manager for the FAA bill, told Republicans during their closed-door lunch Wednesday that there wouldn’t be any amendment votes. But Democrats were increasingly optimistic last night that there would be, including on the Kaine-Warner amendment. Cruz later said he believes the process could completely “unravel” if that amendment were to be adopted.

The Senate has a cloture vote at 1 p.m. today. Senators can then speak for up to an hour each for a total of 30 hours unless time is yielded back. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will then need to take procedural steps to set up yet another cloture vote. You get the point here. Absent a time agreement, it’s going to take a while to finish this up.

— Andrew Desiderio

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

CHC pushes for Biden meeting as admin weighs asylum changes

News: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) has secured a commitment from President Joe Biden to meet with the caucus after months of demanding a sit-down.

This promise for a meeting comes as Biden weighs executive actions on immigration that many in the CHC have warned against. The White House is desperate to stem the flow of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and is expected to announce changes today to the asylum system.

Exactly when this Biden-CHC meeting will happen is still up in the air. But Barragán told us she spoke with Biden in person about it Monday before the White House Cinco de Mayo event.

“He’s going to set the meeting up,” Barragán said of Biden. “The president likes to engage on the issues and I think a lot of the time it’s about timing and everything going on in the world and how busy he is, but there was no hesitation.”

The commitment follows months of tension between the White House and the CHC. Hispanic lawmakers were shut out of the failed Senate bipartisan border talks.

CHC members have also complained about being in the dark on Biden’s potential immigration moves, privately grumbling that he has refused to meet with them.

The White House didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Hispanic Caucus has been closely monitoring potential administrative actions to tighten immigration laws. And several CHC and progressive lawmakers sent a letter to Biden Wednesday outlining executive actions they would support.

“We need to make sure we preserve the ability to seek asylum in the United States. There are vulnerable people who are fleeing terrible situations in dangerous countries,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) told us. “I’m anxious to see what they’re proposing. I want to make sure it protects the fundamental right to asylum.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), who has urged the administration to go further on border security, said Biden is moving in the right direction when it comes to curbing asylum claims.

“If too many people are rushing in or we have surges in any one area of the border and it overwhelms resources that small communities have, that’s the right thing to do,” Gonzalez told us. “We are taking measures that maybe should’ve been taken a long time ago.”

— Mica Soellner

THE SENATE

The Senate’s Julie Su conundrum

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su is scheduled to appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee this morning, where she’ll discuss President Joe Biden’s FY2025 budget request for the Labor Department.

Yet hanging over Su’s testimony is the fact that she still lacks the requisite Senate votes for confirmation to the post — and Democratic leaders have no plans to hold a vote they know will fail. Meanwhile, Su continues to run the department.

We spoke with GOP and Democratic senators alike who worry that keeping Su in the post even though she can’t be confirmed sets a dangerous precedent that weakens the Senate’s constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on nominations.

“Whatever was done by the other party in the previous Congress now becomes the norm… in the next Congress,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who could become chair of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee if the GOP wins the majority. “We’re really playing fast and furious with the United States Constitution.”

It was nearly a year ago that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced his opposition to Su as Labor secretary over policy disagreements.

“Why have a confirmation process if you’re not going to adhere to it?” Manchin said on Wednesday. “It could be her or anybody else. It’s not her as a person, trust me, OK? But they should work hard… to get one or two Republicans.”

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who won’t reveal which way he’d vote on Su unless a vote were to be scheduled, said it’s time for the Senate to have its say.

“We ought to get her confirmed or not, one or the other,” Tester told us.

There are some nuances with Su’s nomination that are worth pointing out.

Su, a former top California labor official, was confirmed by the Senate to be deputy Labor secretary in July 2021 in a highly contentious vote (we’ll note that Manchin backed her). President Joe Biden nominated her in February 2023 to succeed Marty Walsh as secretary.

But due to unanimous GOP opposition, Manchin’s announcement and questions about how other senators may vote — especially Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) — Senate Democrats never brought Su up for a floor vote. The nomination expired at the end of the first session of the 118th Congress.

However, Biden renominated her for the Labor post in January. The HELP Committee again cleared Su’s nomination in February, yet she remains in nomination limbo. Democrats won’t bring Su’s nomination up because there’s a strong chance she would lose. And since Su is already doing the job anyway, why take the risk?

The Government Accountability Office found that Su’s appointment doesn’t violate federal law because an existing statute allows her to “perform the duties of the Secretary until a successor is appointed.”

Republicans countered that the GAO report doesn’t include a review of whether the use of the statute in question violates the Constitution’s advice and consent clause.

“It’s not [Democrats], it’s that the Republicans don’t want to confirm her,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who chairs the HELP Committee. “She’s doing a great job, in my view.”

— Andrew Desiderio and John Bresnahan

ATLANTIC COUNCIL DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Highlights from The Atlantic Council awards

Punchbowl News was proud to join the Atlantic Council last night as a media partner for its annual Distinguished Leadership Awards. The ceremony brought Washington’s diplomats, global affairs journalists and think-tankers together for a night of celebration.

This year’s honorees included Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Christopher Cavoli and Academy Award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.

Iohannis gave a moving speech about Romania’s history and its many contributions to Ukraine’s war effort, including the resettlement of refugees and the flow of military and humanitarian assistance.

“The Romanian people have made bold, brave and determined decisions to strengthen the fabric of our democratic society,” Iohannis said.

Raimondo joked that she didn’t actually know what the Commerce Department did when she was first asked to serve as secretary, but later found that it impacted nearly every element of the American economy as well as national security.

“Our economic competitiveness is national security. That is truer now than it has ever been,” Raimondo said. “Our ability to operate in the world, to lead in the world, depends vitally on our economic strength.”

Cavoli played up his Italian heritage and spoke passionately about the mission of NATO as the military alliance celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. NATO’s annual summit will take place here in D.C. in July.

Yeoh, the first Asian to win the Academy Award for best actress, spoke about her battles against racial stereotypes throughout her career and how she overcame them. Just last week, Yeoh received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her activism and philanthropy, including her role as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Development Program.

You can watch the full recording of the event here.

— Andrew Desiderio

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