Free Republic

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) called a joint press conference on “election integrity” from former President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “absurd” Friday, given the indictments Trump faces over 2020 election interference. “I mean, it’s too rich that Donald Trump and Mike Johnson are talking to us about election integrity. That’s like having to listen to a lecture by Bonnie and Clyde on bank security. I mean, it’s absurd considering what they did in the 2020 election to try and overturn it,” Swalwell said during an appearance on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360”.

Former President Trump threw his support behind Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Friday as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — one of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill — threatens to force a vote on ousting the House leader. Asked during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago if he supports Greene’s motion to vacate, Trump — while standing beside Johnson — said the Speaker is “doing a very good job.”

"I don't trust you."So said Rep Mike Garcia to FBI Director Christopher Wray. Garcia accused Wray of standing relatively silent and passive about "the biggest national security threat" to the U.S. – referring to the southern border — and refused to give "little credence" in the director’s ability to do his job or lead the "brave agents" below him. "I don’t trust you to protect us," Garcia said. "I think because of your inability to lead and also shape the policies and the DOJ and at the White House, we are now in a more precarious position than we were,...

Here are 10 key reasons experts say U.S. support for Ukraine should be continued: 1. Putin's aggression must be stopped. 2. Putin's atrocities need a response. 3. Russia is targeting evangelical Christians for persecution. 4. Ukraine wants only to regain its sovereign territory. 5. Russia has not "won" the war. 6. Russia is rearming for a larger war. 7. Most Ukraine aid goes to U.S. contractors. 8. Europe fears a coming attack on NATO. 9. Support for Ukraine signals to China: Do not invade Taiwan. 10. Give Ukraine aid to let Trump bring peace.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday explained his apparent flip-flop on a controversial surveillance law, saying that he now favors limited reforms after receiving a classified briefing. Speaker Johnson was asked by reporters why he changed his opinion on reforming Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a controversial surveillance law that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ communications without a warrant. Johnson this week came out against a warrant requirement for Section 702 and moved not to allow an amendment that would have barred intelligence and law enforcement agencies from purchasing Americans’ private...

Chicago’s self-professed progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing the Biden administration to cut loose with more work permits for the tens of thousands of illegals sheltering in the city even as local black unemployment soars to many times the national average. As Chicago has been beset by nearly 40,000 illegals in the city’s 20 shelters, without work permits, illegals have a more have a difficult time getting work in Chicago, and Johnson has been pushing for more of these permits — which must come from the federal government. But Johnson has been piqued by the slow-moving wheels of the feds....

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a conservative think tank’s president pushed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to approve more aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, arguing that backing Kyiv is vital to securing American freedom and values. Pompeo, who served in the Trump administration, said in a letter with John Walters, the CEO and president of the Hudson Institute, that protecting Ukraine is connected to issues at home, making the argument as some Republicans, including Johnson, have previously insisted the U.S. must secure the border before sending more aid to Kyiv. “None of our challenges at home...

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Sunday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will be blamed if the U.S. fails to provide aid to Ukraine and it loses its war against Russia. “Now, he has to think about his conscience, because I got to tell you, if Ukraine loses this fight, he will be the guy in the history books that are written about why Ukraine lost this fight,” Kinzinger said in an interview on CNN. “They won’t necessarily say that he’s the one that pulled the aid, but he’s the one that could have done something which changed it.” “We...

A group of House Democrats is calling on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to include humanitarian assistance in a foreign aid package that is expected to address funding for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific. In a letter to Johnson sent Tuesday and obtained by The Hill, the Democrats asked Johnson to include $9.16 billion in global humanitarian assistance in any potential aid package, a figure slightly higher than what was included in a national security supplemental aid package the Senate passed in February. Johnson has refused to take up the Senate package. The letter was first reported by Axios. Democrats point...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he exchanged text messages with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on March 31 and planned to discuss spending and reforms with Ms. Greene this week.

....Democrats could easily save Johnson, and many have named a vote on Ukraine aid as their price.... ...Some Democrats, conscious of that threat, had suggested that they would be interested in protecting Johnson from an ouster...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) “unleashed the demons” when he spearheaded an effort last year to oust former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his leadership post. Gingrich was responding to a question from Fox host Laura Ingraham about why some House Republicans, including Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.), have been leaving Congress before the end of their terms. Gingrich said that, in part, Gaetz’s effort last year ending McCarthy’s tenure as Speaker should not be downplayed and that, since then, the lower chamber has been a “disaster.”

CNN commentator Adam Kinzinger said on Friday in CNN’s “Newsroom” that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filing a motion to vacate House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) could force a deal with Democrats on foreign aid. Kinzinger said, “It’s ironic because right now they’re complaining about this bill. This year was spent on frivolous investigations that were pushed by the Freedom Caucus mainly because their whole obsession has been to take out Joe Biden. So there hasn’t been much opportunity, frankly, to negotiate any kind of a deal when you have such a close majority, the idea that the Democrats aren’t...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) passed a massive $1.2 trillion government funding plan despite the objections of the majority of House Republicans, violating the Hastert Rule and crossing the Rubicon into dangerous territory for the future of his speakership. House Republicans enacted the longstanding rule to prohibit Republican Speakers from colluding with Democrats to pass legislation. But Johnson sent the bill to the Senate despite the objections of 112 Republican colleagues, with only 101 Republican votes in favor, although Johnson and his leadership team applied significant pressure. Johnson also broke a House rule intended to give lawmakers time to review legislation...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, three sources with knowledge of the move told NBC News, doing so just as the House voted to avoid a government shutdown. Johnson, R-La., has served as speaker for five months, having taken over for Kevin McCarthy who was ousted from the top job under a similar process.

President Biden used a joint appearance with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Friday to urge lawmakers to pass assistance for Ukraine that faces an uncertain path forward in the House. Biden, speaking at the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon to mark St. Patrick’s Day, expressed his appreciation for Ireland’s commitment to providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine during its war with Russia and to the people of Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war. “I’m committed to continuing to do our part,” Biden said to the room of bipartisan lawmakers, which included Johnson. “I’m confident the vast majority — and excuse me for...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly said the House of Representatives would cobble together a Ukraine aid bill while speaking with Republican senators on Wednesday during a retreat on Capitol Hill. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reported on the conversations that occurred at the Library of Congress during the annual Republican Senate retreat and emphasized the speaker “cautioned that what comes out of the House will look substantially different than the $95 billion foreign aid package the Senate passed last month.” Per Bolton, Johnson suggested a lend-and-lease program during the meeting but did not mention whether border security measures would be...

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Thursday again pressed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to take up the Senate-passed national security spending package, which includes $60 billion for Ukraine, despite Johnson’s message to GOP senators this week that he’s moving in a different direction. McConnell didn’t express much interest in waiting weeks or maybe months for the House to come up with an alternative proposal to help Ukraine. “The chilling reality here is abundantly clear. Withholding critical weapons has not helped manage [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s escalation. It has only emboldened him,” McConnell warned on the Senate floor. That alternative...

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is floating an ambitious deadline for the chamber to pass Ukraine aid, urging GOP leaders to send a Senate-passed foreign aid package to President Biden’s desk by the end of next week. “The clock is ticking, and we have to get the bipartisan national security bill over the finish line before we leave town next Friday, March 22 — before we leave town,” Jeffries said Wednesday during a press briefing in the Capitol. “It’s reckless to do otherwise.” Jeffries, as leader of the minority party, has virtually no power to control what legislation comes...

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) Tuesday that he’s putting “thousands of lives in Ukraine” at risk by turning the issue of whether to approve aid to the war-torn country into a political football. Such a strong statement from a foreign leader to a US congressman is unusual, and it comes as efforts to pass $60 billion in military assistance for Ukraine have stalled in the lower chamber. “The lack of a decision to unblock aid to Ukraine is very important for Ukraine, for the United States, for the entire Western community,” Tusk told reporters...