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Good afternoon, and welcome back to Press Pass. The Bulwark is important to me personally because it’s the first media outlet I’ve belonged to that is truly independent—a quality that’s going to become more essential in the coming years. I know that you value media independence, too, so if you’d like to support our mission, please consider upgrading your subscription to a Bulwark+ membership. We’ll even give you two weeks for free so you can see what you think of the extra offerings and access before deciding if it’s right for you.
Today’s edition identifies the marquee theme of Mike Johnson’s speakership: inaction. Put another way, the House doesn’t get anything done. And because of that inertia, lawmakers have started to more frequently use rare procedural methods of forcing votes on bills. They do so by bypassing the quietly obstructive speaker entirely.
In addition, a startling number of lawmakers have died in office this Congress, and we still have seven months left before the end of the session. The aging body might have a very different look when the next Congress begins in the new year. Lastly, some good news: The Bulwark has crossed a major milestone, but our work isn’t done yet. All that and more, below.
Mike Johnson, Lollygagger of the House
The impotent speaker’s tenure has lawmakers taking matters into their own hands.
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Valar Dohaeris
Each House speakership ends up having its own unique character—forged through a combination of successes and failures. Nancy Pelosi, for example, is remembered for ruling her majority with an iron fist; she also regularly defeated internal party challenges and cleared the pathway for landmark legislation like the Affordable Care Act. Paul Ryan and John Boehner passed some substantial bills, too, and both departed Congress for lucrative second acts. Kevin McCarthy was not so lucky. He failed to quell a rebellion that resulted in his tarring and feathering (not literally) on the House floor. He has not found his way into the sort of plum position his predecessors have enjoyed since their speakerships ended.
Mike Johnson’s speakership is somewhat different from all these. His overriding project has been to cede whatever power and decision-making he can to the White House, and this has, in turn, given shape to an unusual legacy, one defined by impotence.
In recent months there has been a strange spirit of bipartisanship among frustrated House members, who have relied on the previously rare tactic of discharge petitions to circumvent Johnson. The latest such bill directly pushes back on the Donald Trump administration in a policy area the MAGA movement finds particularly divisive: aid to Ukraine...
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