Speaker Mike Johnson told us that he is “absolutely convinced” that Republicans will expand their majority in the House, win the Senate and former President Donald Trump will be back in the White House.
Absolutely convinced. Without a doubt.
Part of this may be bluster. The sort of rhetoric any party leader uses less than two months before an election.
But Johnson says it with such conviction that it’s clear he actually believes Republicans are on the march in 2024:
Of course, the truth is a bit more complex. House Republicans are in a dogfight to retain their troubled four-seat majority. Republicans look like they will take the Senate but it won’t be a large majority. And the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump is indeed a dead heat. Who’s winning depends on which polls you read each day.
But it’s incumbent on Johnson to remain sunny amid the storm.
The mood in the House GOP is cautiously hopeful. Republicans feel as if they have good candidates and a winning message. But the gnawing sense is that they don’t have enough cash to compete with Democrats.
Johnson is aware of the complaints and counters by saying Democrats usually outraise Republicans. The DCCC has $92 million in the bank as of July 31, compared to the NRCC, which has just over $73 million.
“We are working around the clock to fill the coffers and we are,” Johnson said. “The donors are very motivated, and many people who I thought had maxed out have come back and said, ‘We’ll do more.’ There’s no question that putting Kamala Harris at the top of the Democrat ticket fueled their fundraising. But we’re not deterred by that at all.”
Johnson has a lot on his hands right now. There’s a very real prospect that his government funding proposal, which pairs six months of spending authority with the SAVE Act, could easily fail on the floor today. This would be a tough outcome for the speaker, who has said he has no fallback option with funding 19 days from expiration.
But on the other side of the funding debate, Johnson has an agenda lined up aimed at dividing Democrats and unifying Republicans.
“The way I say it is that we’re going to highlight the contrast between our positive Republican agenda and the disastrous Biden-Harris record,” Johnson said. “So this is not gotcha politics. This is just illustrating the facts.”
— Jake Sherman
