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‘I’d Rather Sit Down With Hannibal Lecter’: Johnson’s Grip on Speakership Slips Further

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Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to lead the House of Representatives is growing even more tenuous, and he’s getting hit from all sides.

Johnson is currently facing a possible forced vote, initiated by House Democrats, to pass the Senate’s bipartisan border bill, especially because it includes now desperately-needed funding for Ukraine. House members from both parties are being urged by Democrats and Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to sign a discharge petition, against Johnson’s wishes.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell [is] making multiple public calls just now for House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on a Senate-passed Ukraine/Israel aid bill. ‘Let the House speak,’ McConnell told reporters,” Jamie Dupree reports. ‘We don’t have time for all of this.'”

Early Monday morning Punchbowl News reported Johnson “said he’d actively work against any and all discharge petitions to bring a bill to a vote.”

READ MORE: ‘Angry’ and ‘Defensive’: Hur Accused of Using Report to Trash Biden, Get Trump Re-Elected

The petition needs 218 votes to pass. Once it does Johnson would have seven days to put the bill on the floor for a vote. It is widely expected it would pass by a large margin, although House members have been slow to sign the petition that’s been open for a few hours.

If Johnson is concerned about his “razor-thin” majority, he just got more bad news. U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who transformed from a wild Freedom Caucus member into a wildcard, had already announced he would not seek re-election. On Tuesday afternoon he announced he is leaving Congress “at the end of next week.” That means after next week, on any given vote Johnson can afford to loose just two members‘ votes, “and that’s if there aren’t any absences.”

Some speculate that with a special election next month in New York, Johnson in theory could be facing a 218-214 majority. “That means Johnson could afford ONE defection at most, since a 216-216 tie kills a bill.”

To make matters worse, Johnson says Buck did not tell him he was pulling up stakes and leaving early, although Buck reportedly left Johnson a voicemail 30 minutes before his announcement.

“I was surprised by Ken’s announcement,” Johnson admitted to reporters.

Buck blasted Republicans, including Donald Trump, in his CNN interview Tuesday.

“It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress. And having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in 40, 50 years to be in Congress,” Buck said.

The bad news for Johnson’s grip on the GOP conference and his speakership continues.

READ MORE: Trump Calls for Cuts to Social Security and Medicare: ‘A Lot You Can Do’

This week is the House Republicans’ retreat, in West Virginia.

Less than half of the House Republicans are expected to attend.

“Less than 100 House GOP members are going to the Republican retreat in West Virginia this week, per source familiar,” Politico’s Olivia Beavers reports.

“’I’d rather sit down with Hannibal Lecter and eat my own liver,’ said one House Republican when asked if they are attending the House GOP retreat,” Beavers adds.

Putting the state of Johnson’s leadership in context, Aaron Fritschner, the deputy chief of staff to Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Beyer offers this observation: “Retreat is a week after the House GOP conference largely blew off Johnson’s request that they ‘behave themselves’ during the State of the Union, which they interrupted many times with shouting and boos.”

Some Republicans appear to be celebrating Johnson’s slipping grip.

Republican lobbyist and former Jeb Bush campaign senior advisor Al Cárdenas, the former chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU), the group that puts on CPAC, was quick to weigh in.

Calling Congressman Buck a “fine servant of the people,” Cárdenas surmised: “If 3 more gop members resign; then leadership of the House changes and we can vote on budget; aid to our allies; border security and immigration reform. Sad but true that the gridlock at a specially critical time is a Trump-Johnson maneuver. Rep Buck did the right thing short term; although the best are leaving and that means more of an effort to rebuild the place later on.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Incomprehensible’: Trump Decimated for ‘Word Salad on Crucially Important Policy Question’

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Ethics Committee Reveals Latest Republican to Come Under Review: Report

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The House Ethics Committee has reportedly announced that U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is facing a review by the Office of Congressional Conduct.

The origin of the review was not been disclosed. Under committee rules, officials are prohibited from stating whether the matter constitutes a formal investigation or identifying its underlying cause. The Committee only stated that there is a “matter regarding Representative Nancy Mace.”

“The Committee notes that the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” the Ethics Committee statement reads. It was posted to social media by congressional journalist Jamie Dupree.

The statement also says the committee will “announce its course of action in this matter on or before March 2, 2026.”

Congresswoman Mace is currently running for governor of South Carolina.

Earlier this month Mace warned that Republicans may lose control of the House, saying they have not “done enough” and could “do a lot more” to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda, The Hill reported.

 

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Republican Vows to Block Trump’s Greenland Push

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A prominent Republican lawmaker is vowing to thwart any attempt by President Donald Trump to acquire Greenland through force or financial means.

Speaking from Copenhagen as part of a bipartisan delegation of U.S. congressional lawmakers, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), told reporters it is “an important message for the people of the Kingdom of Denmark to understand” that the United States has “three separate but equal branches” of government.

Reminding them that under the U.S. Constitution it is Congress that controls spending, Senator Murkowski, who has broken ranks and stood up to President Trump at times, said, “In Congress, we have tools at our disposal under our constitutional authority that speaks specifically to the power of the purse through appropriations.”

She noted also that “Congress has a role. Certainly, when it comes to spending authorities, the Congress has a role in basically helping to facilitate the message that comes from our constituents, to be reflected in whether it’s legislation or appropriations, or actions or measures, that can indicate, again, the will of the Congress.”

READ MORE: Trump Dangles Another Insurrection Act Threat for Minnesota

The “vast majority” of Americans do not support the acquisition of Greenland, Senator Murkowski added, noting that “some 75 percent will say we do not think that that is a good idea.”

“Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset,” Murkowski also told reporters.

Politico reported that U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) “also took part in the visit by House and Senate lawmakers,” and “said he would push ahead with legislation to curb Trump’s power to act unilaterally.”

He also denied President Trump’s claims that Greenland is necessary to be owned by the U.S. for national security reasons.

“Are there real, pressing threats to the security of Greenland from China and Russia?” Coons said. “No, not today.”

READ MORE: With Shutdown Looming and Crises Growing Trump Heads Off for Long Mar-a-Lago Weekend

 

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Trump Dangles Another Insurrection Act Threat for Minnesota

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Just one day after threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, which would allow him to unleash domestic military forces onto American streets, President Donald Trump once again on Friday hinted he would do so while suggesting he may be “forced” to take action.

Trump targeted Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats, claiming they “don’t know what to do” after he deployed roughly 3,000 federal troops to the city.

“In Minnesota,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “the Troublemakers, Agitators, and Insurrectionists are, in many cases, highly paid professionals.”

“The Governor and Mayor don’t know what to do, they have totally lost control, and our currently being rendered, USELESS! If, and when, I am forced to act, it will be solved, QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY!”

The Guardian labeled Trump’s claims that protesters are paid as baseless.

Attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick wrote: “Note that the Trump admin hasn’t yet been able to produce evidence of a SINGLE ‘paid protestor.’ They’ve had total control of the FBI and the DOJ and ICE HSI and yet despite all of that, they can’t even find ONE person who they can accuse of being paid to protest.”

Separately, The Steady State, a group of over 365 former national security officials, while not referring to Trump’s remarks from Friday morning, noted that the Insurrection Act is “an extraordinary power meant for true emergencies, not a shield for unconstitutional policing. Using it to silence dissent or justify unlawful paramilitary activity at the hand of ICE undermines the rule of law.”

READ MORE: With Shutdown Looming and Crises Growing Trump Heads Off for Long Mar-a-Lago Weekend

 

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