There’s quite the kerfuffle up on Capitol Hill Thursday, as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Republicans attempt to bust their way through the wall of spider webs known as “funding the government” without getting bitten and/or eaten alive.
I think most people watching the furor over the latest proposed continuing resolution and the last-minute scrambling over it have a certain degree of empathy for the Speaker, and a thinly-held majority that’s so used to being trapped in the gilded D.C. cage, it doesn’t really know how to behave when the door swings open.
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Many don’t seem to realize that the newly reelected President Donald Trump is standing there with the key. (My apologies for the extended metaphor(s) — the whole situation just seems to lend itself to them.)
One who does realize it is Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), whose witty way with words provides endless amusement — along with some sage advice. Asked Thursday about his take on the situation, Kennedy had this to say:
“There’s one person that can control the Republican caucus in the United States House of Representatives right now, and that’s Donald J. Trump,” he said on “Fox & Friends.”
“Could that change? Sure, but Speaker Johnson cannot [control the caucus]. It’s clear he hasn’t been able to do so. It’s not his fault. I’m not sure anybody could, but he can’t get all the Republicans together in the House and, in order to pass the C.R., he’s got to do that without Democratic support.”
“I think President Trump could,” he continued. “And I hope he’ll consider coming to Washington.”
…
“Let’s face it, he’s the president now,” Kennedy said of Trump, who doesn’t take office until Jan. 20. “It’s not President Biden.”
“If the president wants to do something on the debt limit, we need to find out what it is and put it in the bill. Then the president’s going to have to help Mike sell it in the House… Speaker Johnson’s problem is that, on the Republican side, he’s got a bunch of free-range chickens. I’m not criticizing them, but they wander off and Mike can’t catch all of them by himself,” he said.
Given Elon Musk’s role in ruffling the chickens’ feathers, I thought it only appropriate to Grok a fitting image:
Image by @grok pic.twitter.com/F6TpkPlZCR
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) December 19, 2024
As for his thoughts on the proposed CR itself, Kennedy observed: “It’s a multiple vehicle pile-up. I knew as soon as I saw the bill there was going to be trouble. The thing was as big as a Costco.”
The man never disappoints.
