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(The Guardian) Johnson suffered embarrassing defeat over surveillance bill after Trump calls to 'kill' it
The joint press conference between Mike Johnson and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago tomorrow will come just two days after the former president called on Republicans to kill legislation the speaker put forward to extend a controversial surveillance law.
Trump had urged House GOP members to reject a reauthorization of the law, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), ahead of the key procedural vote on Wednesday. “KILL FISA,” Trump posted to Truth Social.
As a result, a faction of far-right House conservatives banded together to block the law from coming to the House floor, throwing the chamber into chaos once again. The Fisa vote was an embarrassing defeat for Johnson, and the fourth time in his tenure that the House has defeated a rule vote.
Asked about Trump’s role in the reauthorization process, Johnson told reporters: I’ll just say that it’s never helpful for the majority party to take down its own rules. What it does ultimately is it weakens our hand in negotiations with the Senate and the White House, so it’s not a good development.
Mike Johnson’s embarrassing defeat over the Fisa bill and the threat of an intra-party revolt over a Ukraine aid package leaves Johnson, six months into his speakership, in a similar place as his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, who was unceremoniously voted out last fall.
After the Fisa vote on Wednesday, Johnson held a closed-door meeting of House Republicans but there was no breakthrough after more than an hour, NBC News reported. The speaker later told reporters: We will regroup and reformulate another plan.
The joint press conference between Mike Johnson and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago tomorrow will come just two days after the former president called on Republicans to kill legislation the speaker put forward to extend a controversial surveillance law.
Trump had urged House GOP members to reject a reauthorization of the law, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), ahead of the key procedural vote on Wednesday. “KILL FISA,” Trump posted to Truth Social.
As a result, a faction of far-right House conservatives banded together to block the law from coming to the House floor, throwing the chamber into chaos once again. The Fisa vote was an embarrassing defeat for Johnson, and the fourth time in his tenure that the House has defeated a rule vote.
Asked about Trump’s role in the reauthorization process, Johnson told reporters: I’ll just say that it’s never helpful for the majority party to take down its own rules. What it does ultimately is it weakens our hand in negotiations with the Senate and the White House, so it’s not a good development.
Mike Johnson’s embarrassing defeat over the Fisa bill and the threat of an intra-party revolt over a Ukraine aid package leaves Johnson, six months into his speakership, in a similar place as his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, who was unceremoniously voted out last fall.
After the Fisa vote on Wednesday, Johnson held a closed-door meeting of House Republicans but there was no breakthrough after more than an hour, NBC News reported. The speaker later told reporters: We will regroup and reformulate another plan.