House Speaker Mike Johnson twisted and turned in every direction as he groveled to cover for Trump telling him to block the border bill.
Spokesman Johnson said President Biden has the executive authority to close the border at this time: “The president has the authority at this time. He doesn’t need another act of Congress. He could do it right now. But he is not willing to do it ”.
Kristen Welker responded: “As you know, the White House has completely rejected the accusation that somehow the migrants and the surge of migrants were intentional on the president’s part. As for your ability to act at this time, Mr. President, you know as well as I do that an executive order would only be met with legal challenges. You have a chance to do something right now. The details we have exposed are not rumors. This is based on the negotiators in the room.”
Johnson said Biden has the executive authority to act on the border and also calls for the Senate to pass and Biden to sign H.R. 2, “And I’ve been absolutely clear from day one, literally from the next morning after I got the gavel to late October , what is the functional equivalence of HR 2, what they are and why it was necessary to solve the problem. In January, I took 64 House Republicans to the border. We heard from the people in charge, the Border Patrol agents, the people there. And they said, “These are the things you need to do to stem the flow.” And the reason we have the largest migration catastrophe, border catastrophe in the history of the United States, is because President Biden took these actions.’ I can name them for you.
Welker asked Johnson if Trump was deciding the border deal, and he replied: “Of course not. It’s not him who decides. I am the one who dictates the law for the House. This is our responsibility. And I’ve been saying this for much longer than President Trump has. I said what the requirements are to solve the problem. I don’t care if they call the legislation HR 2 or not. What we’re saying is you have to stem the flow. The president has executive power at this time. While Congress carries out negotiations, debate and discussion, the president could stop them. Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as the Supreme Court has already recognized, gives the president broad executive authority –”
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Trump doesn’t dictate the law. It’s a coincidence that President Johnson has changed his position to whatever Trump wants. Apparently even Mitch McConnell is lying when he says that Trump is ordering Republicans to block the border law because he wants to exploit the issue in the elections.
Mike Johnson is Donald Trump’s puppet in the House. Johnson is willing to lose his majority in the House if he believes that by doing so he can bring Trump back to the White House.
The entire interview was full of Johnson contradicting himself and humiliating himself to please boss Trump.
The number of presidents has declined so much since Republicans took power in the House that one of Hakeem Jeffries’ most important tasks will be to restore dignity and authority to the position if he becomes president next year.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and professional memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association