Speaker Mike Johnson just made a fatal mistake that could cause him his new speakership: he dared to work with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. And now the House Freedom Caucus — aka far-right Republicans — are threatening to revolt. Again.
"There's a bit of a rebellion … this time over the budget," said Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican known for his disapproval of the Freedom Caucus and their hostile, dead-end antics. (See video below, posted by Patriot Takes.)
"Fundamentally, you've got people who believe in a political reality that just doesn't exist. And that political reality consists of a fantasy where we won a bunch more elections and have control of the Senate and the White House," he continued. "But we don't live in that reality."
"The political realities didn't change. The circumstances didn't change. And the same people who believe in a fantasy world of a different political reality also didn't change. So here we are," Crenshaw concluded.
Of course Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of the chaos-makers, warning today that we could soon expect "a new deal drawn up," according to the Independent.
Rep. Bob Good was another, telling reporters, "We're making a statement that the deal, as has been announced, that doesn't secure the border and that doesn't cut our spending, and that's gonna be passed apparently under suspension of the rules with predominantly Democrat votes, is unacceptable."
Johnson, on the other hand, is playing coy, telling reporters today, "I've made no commitments, so if you've heard otherwise, it's simply not true." (See second video today, posted by Haley Talbon.)
One thing we know is true, however, is that even Johnson's deep Christian faith isn't going to get him out of this pickle — keeping his job while sticking to his morals will be nothing short of a miracle.
From The Independent:
Grumblings on the right wing spilled over into open rebellion on Wednesday and into Thursday as the House Freedom Caucus came out against the agreement negotiated between Mr Johnson and Mr Schumer, which set a topline spending number of $1.59 trillion for the fiscal year plus $69bn in "budget adjustments". That $1.59 trillion number had been granted the support of the Freedom Caucus in December, making this week's news all the more infuriating for Republican and Democratic negotiatiors.
Statements from multiple members of the group indicated that the Freedom Caucus was engaged on Thursday morning in talks with Mr Johnson about the prospect of changing the topline number or making other alterations to the legislation.
