Dem
51
GOP
49
The first lesson in Government 101 is that each side gets some of what they want in a negotiation, and no side is ever left entirely happy. The Freedom Caucusers don't seem to have taken that course, however—perhaps not a surprise, since some of them struggled to graduate high school. Predictably, they are hopping mad about the budget deal that Mike Johnson struck over the weekend. Yesterday, they held a press conference and vowed to do whatever they can to torpedo it.
This threat has some... interesting implications. By themselves, the FCers can really only drag their feet, and slow down the process by mucking up various procedural motions. There isn't time for that, without shutting the country down. The workaround is to put the bills up under suspension of House rules. That eliminates procedural votes and amendments, but... it requires a 2/3 majority.
What that means is that even if Johnson gets every one of the 213 Democratic votes, he still needs 73 Republicans to get the bills passed. Does he have them? We're soon going to find out, presumably. If he can't find them, then the government will shut down, and the Republican Party will be left holding the bag. If he can find them, the FCers are going to be even more angry, and may make a motion to vacate. Why does ANYONE want to be speaker in a Republican-controlled House, again? (Z)