Politics
Johnson’s Reward as Speaker: An Impossible Job Delivering for Trump
Just minutes after Speaker Mike Johnson could exhale, having put down a short-lived conservative revolt and won re-election to his post on Friday, hard-right lawmakers sent him a letter.
It was not congratulatory.
They had only voted for him, they wrote, “because of our steadfast support of President Trump and to ensure the timely certification of his electors.”
“We did this despite our sincere reservations regarding the speaker’s track record over the past 15 months,” lawmakers in the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus continued, appending a list of three major complaints about Mr. Johnson and seven policy dictates they demanded he adopt.
Welcome to the 119th Congress.
“I just expect intramural wrestling matches to be kind of the norm,” Representative Mark Amodei, Republican of Nevada, said as he walked off the House floor after Mr. Johnson’s whipsaw election to the speakership.
Ever since he ascended to the top job in the House after many of those same conservatives ousted his predecessor, Mr. Johnson has had one of the hardest jobs in Washington. Now, with total Republican control of government and President-elect Donald J. Trump’s enormous domestic agenda at stake, he is facing his toughest test yet.
Mr. Johnson will be responsible for pushing through Mr. Trump’s economic plans, including one or more huge bills that lawmakers say they want to simultaneously increase the nation’s borrowing limit, extend the tax cuts Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017, cut federal spending, and put in place a wide-ranging immigration crackdown.
At the same time, he will be dealing with a mercurial president who has already displayed his penchant for squashing congressional negotiations and inserting new demands at the 11th hour. And he will do so while trying to corral an unruly group of lawmakers who, despite their reverence for Mr. Trump, have already shown their willingness to buck him on key votes, and who care little about the political fallout of stirring up drama within the party.
Within weeks, Mr. Johnson’s majority will shrink smaller still. He is losing two reliable Republican votes, Representatives Elise Stefanik of New York and Michael Waltz of Florida, who are leaving the House to work in the Trump administration, meaning he will only be able to afford a single defection on fraught votes.
On top of all of it are towering expectations about what Mr. Trump can accomplish with a Republican trifecta.
“I never said any of the other things that we’re going to do are going to be easy; they’re actually going to be very hard,” Representative Carlos Gimenez, Republican of Florida, said. “But we have to do it for the American people. The American people expect us to get things accomplished, and I think that’s going be the driving force. Every once in a while, we’re going to take a hard vote.”
Mr. Johnson’s allies like to say never to bet against him, a refrain they reprised after the speaker, a Louisiana Republican, was re-elected after a single, if tortured, ballot on Friday.
But it was clear that the spat on the House floor over Mr. Johnson’s ascension to the speakership was only the opening salvo in a fight brewing over the tax, budget and immigration legislation Republicans were preparing to pass.
Chief among the demands that the House Freedom Caucus issued on Friday was that the bill “not increase federal borrowing” — a move Mr. Trump has called upon House Republicans to approve — “before real spending cuts are agreed to and in place.”
They also complained that Mr. Johnson had failed to promise to ensure that “any reconciliation package reduces spending and the deficit in real terms with respect to the dynamic score of tax and spending policies under recent growth trends.”
Such demands will almost certainly set up a bitter fight among House Republicans over how to structure what is supposed to be Mr. Trump’s landmark legislation. Extending the tax cuts Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017 is estimated to cost roughly $4 trillion alone. Offsetting those cuts — as well as any immigration measures that Republicans are also clamoring to include — would tee up deep spending cuts that could run into a buzz saw from more moderate Republicans, who are sure to have their say.
Already some mainstream conservatives who just won tough re-election battles in swing districts, preserving the House Republican majority, have vented frustration with their hard-line colleagues.
“It angers the 95 percent of us that 5 percent are doing this thing to Mike Johnson — and to the whole conference; who are they?” Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska said. “We’re the 95 percent, and these guys act like they’re some House of Lords or something of the conference. And we don’t like that.”
“We have had our fill of these guys,” he added. “Most of us don’t want to work with them, we don’t want to work on their legislation, because it’s all about them.”
That may suit them just fine, but it will only make Mr. Johnson’s job of cobbling together a Republican majority for Mr. Trump’s priorities more difficult.
Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, one of the two Republicans who initially opposed Mr. Johnson for speaker on Friday on the House floor, only to change his vote, told reporters that he felt his message about the tax and budget bill — that it could not end up costing taxpayers money — had been received.
“I think Mike Johnson knows now, that’s not going to be a reality,” Mr. Norman said, adding that he respected how the speaker had handled his concerns.
“He said, ‘Look, if I don’t perform the way I say I’m going to perform, and push the things that you’re saying, put me out,’” Mr. Norman continued. “He said, ‘I never thought I would have this job anyway.’”
Karoun Demirjian and Maya C. Miller contributed reporting.
Over the next six days, various dignitaries, supporters and ordinary citizens will celebrate Jimmy Carter at several funeral events across the country that honor his life and career in public service, from his boyhood farm in rural Georgia to Washington and back.
The gestures of remembrance have all been carefully selected to reflect the 39th president’s rural roots in the small town of Plains, Ga., his political career in Georgia and Washington, and his legacy of global advocacy in Atlanta.
Here is the full schedule of events.
Saturday, Jan. 4
At 10:15 a.m., the Carter family will arrive at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga. There, former and current members of the Secret Service detail that protected Carter will escort his body to a hearse, which will then leave for Plains, the former president’s hometown.
The motorcade is expected to pass through Plains, pausing for a moment at his childhood farm. During that stop, the National Park Service will toll the farm bell 39 times, marking Carter’s service as the 39th president.
Once the motorcade leaves Plains, it will head for Atlanta, where it is scheduled to arrive at 3 p.m. Once there, the motorcade will pause for a moment of silence at the Georgia State Capitol, where Carter once served as governor.
A private service will then be held at the Carter Center in Atlanta, where the former president established his presidential library and headquarters for an organization dedicated to championing democracy, fighting diseases and other global causes.
Beginning at 7 p.m., the public will be able to pay their respects at the Carter Center through early Tuesday.
Tuesday, Jan. 7
Public visitation will end at 6 a.m.
At 9:30 a.m., there will be a ceremony marking Carter’s final departure from the Carter Center. His family will then travel with his body to Washington.
They will first fly to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, arriving at 12:45 p.m. A motorcade will then take them to the U.S. Navy Memorial, in recognition of Carter’s military service.
At 2 p.m., Carter’s body will be transferred to a horse-drawn military wagon, as part of a procession to the U.S. Capitol in Washington. At the Capitol, Carter will lie in state, with a 3 p.m. service scheduled for lawmakers to pay their respects.
The public will be able to visit until midnight, and then again on Wednesday through early Thursday.
Thursday, Jan. 9
Carter will leave the Capitol at 9 a.m., with a ceremony. The procession will head to Washington National Cathedral, where a national funeral service will take place at 10 a.m.
The funeral is expected to end by 11:15 a.m., at which point the family will accompany the coffin back to Joint Base Andrews to fly to Georgia. Once back in Georgia, a motorcade will drive to Plains.
Once the motorcade arrives at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter taught Sunday school for many years, a private funeral service will take place at 3:45 p.m.
An hour later, the motorcade is expected to travel to the Carter home, where his wife, Rosalynn, is buried. There, the Navy will conduct a ceremonial flyover, another tribute to Carter’s service both as a lieutenant and commander in chief.
Carter will finally be buried alongside his wife. A private interment ceremony, scheduled for 5:20 p.m., will conclude the services.
Politics
Musk renews harsh rebuke of Dems who rejected deporting sex offenders: Vote out ‘every one’
Tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk renewed criticism of the more than 150 House Democrats who voted against deporting illegal immigrants convicted of sex offenses, demanding each of the lawmakers be voted out of office.
“There is no excuse. Please post the list of people who opposed this law and want to keep illegals who are convicted sex offenders in America,” Musk posted to his X account on Saturday referencing a September House vote.
“They all need to be voted out of office. Every one of them.”
The Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act passed the House in September, after all 215 present Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and were joined by 51 Democratic colleagues. A total of 158 Democrats, however, voted against the bill.
158 DEMS VOTE AGAINST BILL TO DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO COMMIT SEX CRIMES
President-elect Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of a test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The Democrats who voted against the bill came under scrutiny in September, and are facing renewed criticism on social media this month as commenters resurrect the vote ahead of President-elect Trump taking office this month.
“The bill targeted rapists, pedophiles, domestic abusers, and stalkers, ensuring they couldn’t stay in the U.S. Opponents claimed it ‘demonized immigrants,’ but how does protecting convicted predators help anyone – especially their victims?” X show host Mario Nawfal posted to his account Saturday, sparking Musk to weigh in.
“Deporting violent offenders isn’t ‘fearmongering’ – it’s basic public safety. Why would anyone vote to keep criminals who prey on women and children?” Nawfal added.
EX-BORDER CHIEF WARNS OF ‘SIGNIFICANT THREAT’ AS MIGRANT NUMBERS SKYROCKET: ‘ENTIRE SECTORS’ MISSING AGENTS
The legislation would deport illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes, and would also deem illegal immigrants who admit to domestic violence or sex-related charges – or are convicted of them – to be inadmissible in the U.S., Fox Digital previously reported. The legislation is currently with the Senate, and was referred to the Judiciary Committee.
Representatives of the 119th Congress are sworn in during the first day of session in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Notable Democrats who voted against the legislation included Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., former California Rep. Adam Schiff, who now serves in the Senate, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Musk’s call for the Democrats to be voted out of Congress over the vote comes after he vowed in December to fund moderate Democratic politicians in deep blue districts, “so that the country can get rid of those who don’t represent them.”
CLYBURN BRUSHES OFF MUSK’S PLAN TO FUND MODERATES IN DEMOCRATIC DISTRICTS
President-elect Trump greets Elon Musk as he arrives to attend a SpaceX Starship launch on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Musk is also slated to serve alongside Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an upcoming presidential advisory committee, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will work to cut excessive government spending and slash the size of the government under Trump’s second administration.
According to the office of the House clerk, the 158 Democrats who voted against the legislation are:
- Alma Adams, North Carolina
- Pete Aguilar, California
- Gabe Amo, Rhode Island
- Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts
- Becca Balint, Vermont
- Nanette Barragán, California
- Joyce Beatty, Ohio
- Ami Bera, California
- Donald Beyer, Virginia
- Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Georgia
- Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
- Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon
- Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
- Jamaal Bowman, New York
- Shontel Brown, Ohio
- Julia Brownley, California
- Cori Bush, Missouri
- Salud Carbajal, California
- Tony Cárdenas, California
- André Carson, Indiana
- Troy Carter, Louisiana
- Greg Casar, Texas
- Ed Case, Hawaii
- Sean Casten, Illinois
- Kathy Castor, Florida
- Joaquin Castro, Texas
- Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Florida
- Judy Chu, California
- Katherine Clark, Massachusetts
- Yvette Clarke, New York
- Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri
- James Clyburn, South Carolina
- Steve Cohen, Tennessee
- Gerald Connolly, Virginia
- Luis Correa, California
- Jim Costa, California
- Jasmine Crockett, Texas
- Jason Crow, Colorado
- Danny Davis, Illinois
- Madeleine Dean, Pennsylvania
- Diana DeGette, Colorado
- Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut
- Suzan DelBene, Washington
- Mark DeSaulnier, California
- Debbie Dingell, Michigan
- Lloyd Doggett, Texas
- Veronica Escobar, Texas
- Anna Eshoo, California
- Adriano Espaillat, New York
- Lizzie Fletcher, Texas
- Bill Foster, Illinois
- Valerie Foushee, North Carolina
- Lois Frankel, Florida
- Maxwell Frost, Florida
- John Garamendi, California
- Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, Illinois
- Robert Garcia, California
- Sylvia Garcia, Texas
- Dan Goldman, New York
- Jimmy Gomez, California
- Al Green, Texas
- James Himes, Connecticut
- Steny Hoyer, Maryland
- Valerie Hoyle, Oregon
- Jared Huffman, California
- Glenn Ivey, Maryland
- Jonathan Jackson, Illinois
- Sara Jacobs, California
- Pramila Jayapal, Washington
- Hakeem Jeffries, New York
- Henry “Hank” Johnson, Georgia
- Sydney Kamlager-Dove, California
- Bill Keating, Massachusetts
- Robin Kelly, Illinois
- Ro Khanna, California
- Dan Kildee, Michigan
- Derek Kilmer, Washington
- Andy Kim, New Jersey
- Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
- Ann Kuster, New Hampshire
- Greg Landsman, Ohio
- Rick Larsen, Washington
- John Larson, Connecticut
- Barbara Lee, California
- Summer Lee, Pennsylvania
- Teresa Leger Fernandez, New Mexico
- Ted Lieu, California
- Zoe Lofgren, California
- Doris Matsui, California
- Lucy McBath, Georgia
- Jennifer McClellan, Virginia
- Betty McCollum, Minnesota
- Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky
- James McGovern, Massachusetts
- Gregory Meeks, New York
- Rob Menendez, New Jersey
- Grace Meng, New York
- Kweisi Mfume, Maryland
- Gwen Moore, Wisconsin
- Joseph Morelle, New York
- Seth Moulton, Massachusetts
- Kevin Mullin, California
- Jerrold Nadler, New York
- Grace Napolitano, California
- Richard Neal, Massachusetts
- Joe Neguse, Colorado
- Donald Norcross, New Jersey
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York
- Ilhan Omar, Minnesota
- Frank Pallone, New Jersey
- Nancy Pelosi, California
- Scott Peters, California
- Brittany Pettersen, Colorado
- Dean Phillips, Minnesota
- Chellie Pingree, Maine
- Mark Pocan, Wisconsin
- Katie Porter, California
- Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
- Mike Quigley, Illinois
- Delia Ramirez, Illinois
- Jamie Raskin, Maryland
- Deborah Ross, North Carolina
- Raul Ruiz, California
- C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Maryland
- Linda Sánchez, California
- John Sarbanes, Maryland
- Mary Scanlon, Pennsylvania
- Janice Schakowsky, Illinois
- Adam Schiff, California
- Bradley Schneider, Illinois
- Robert “Bobby” Scott, Virginia
- David Scott, Georgia
- Terri Sewell, Alabama
- Brad Sherman, California
- Darren Soto, Florida
- Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico
- Haley Stevens, Michigan
- Marilyn Strickland, Washington
- Mark Takano, California
- Shri Thanedar, Michigan
- Mike Thompson, California
- Bennie Thompson, Mississippi
- Rashida Tlaib, Michigan
- Jill Tokuda, Hawaii
- Paul Tonko, New York
- Norma Torres, California
- Ritchie Torres, New York
- Lori Trahan, Massachusetts
- David Trone, Maryland
- Lauren Underwood, Illinois
- Juan Vargas, California
- Marc Veasey, Texas
- Nydia Velázquez, New York
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida
- Maxine Waters, California
- Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey
- Nikema Williams, Georgia
- Frederica Wilson, Florida
The Democrats who voted against the legislation came under fierce scrutiny in September from conservatives.
“If you vote against it, you’re sexist against women,” South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace, who introduced the legislation, said in September to Fox Digital.
Migrants attempt to cross into the U.S. from Mexico at the border Dec. 17, 2023 in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. (Nick Ut/Getty Images)
ELON MUSK AGREES WITH RON PAUL’S CALL TO ‘ELIMINATE FOREIGN AID’
“I mean, truly, because we’re talking about illegals who are here who are committing domestic violence, rape and murder on women and children – they’ve gotta go. They shouldn’t be allowed into our country.”
“158 Democrats just voted AGAINST deporting migrants for s*x offenses. This is a slap in the face to every victim and their family members. Democrats hate you and your children,” popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted at the time.
Democrats who voted against the bill characterized it as xenophobic and an example of “fearmongering” against immigrants.
“Here we are again, debating another partisan bill that fear mongers about immigrants, instead of working together to fix the immigration system,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said during debate on the bill.
“I probably shouldn’t be too surprised. Scapegoating immigrants and attempting to weaponize the crime of domestic violence is appearing to be a time-honored tradition for Republicans.”
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Will President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to “launch the largest deportation program in American history” truly keep millions of immigrants out of the country? My research on deportees over the last five years suggests it won’t.
Here’s why: They’ll come back.
One of the migrants I interviewed was deported to a perilous town in northern Mexico, where he found himself in immediate danger on arriving at a bus terminal. Members of a criminal group demanded that he provide a contraseña — a password he didn’t have — or face kidnapping. He ultimately borrowed $1,500 from a friend to pay them off, remain free and make his way back to the United States.
His experience is an example of the risks deportees face in their countries of origin. Those dangers — and the relative safety of the only homes they have — often motivate them to undertake harrowing journeys back to the United States.
Although data on deportees is somewhat limited, the evidence we have shows that people re-immigrate after deportation more frequently than many might expect. In fiscal 2020, for example, the federal government classified 40% of deportations as “reinstatements of removal,” meaning the deportees had reentered the United States after being removed or ordered to leave. A 2019 report by the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration advocacy group, similarly noted that such reinstatements of removal generally make up 40% of deportations annually. From 2011 to 2020, approximately 1.3 million deportations affected people who had been deported before.
That’s because deportation policies are at best blunt instruments that take little account of the human lives they ensnare. Those who view mass deportation as a solution to unauthorized immigration ignore the deep roots, sense of belonging, family ties and resolve that drive people back to the country they call home.
Undeterred by deportation, people I’ve interviewed have found ways to return to the United States with or without permission. Their stories reveal the rarely discussed truth that deportation is not necessarily the end of migration; it is often a temporary, futile interruption.
I spoke to another man who was born in Mexico but raised in the United States, served in the military and struggled with post-traumatic stress. Because of a minor cannabis possession charge, he was deported to a country he barely remembered. In 2021, more than a decade after his exile, he returned to the only land he considers his own, the United States.
“You can travel the world,” he told me, “but eventually, your heart and spirit will call you home.”
Another Mexican-born, U.S.-raised military veteran I interviewed was also deported over a marijuana charge. Feeling “erased from existence,” he risked his life to return less than a month later.
“I don’t need a paper to tell me I’m an American,” he told me.
These stories expose a fundamental flaw of mass deportation. In contrast to the cyclical migration patterns of earlier decades — when migrants, mostly men, moved back and forth between the United States and Mexico with relative ease in response to the labor market — today’s cycle is driven by government coercion and unbreakable bonds. Forced departures lead to inevitable returns as deportees are pulled back by connections that no amount of enforcement can sever.
The coyotes who smuggle them have become part of what the anthropologist Jason De León calls a “border-security-industrial complex.” If their illicit businesses were publicly traded, their stocks would be soaring on renewed demand. Meanwhile, border enforcement policies push migrants into treacherous terrain where they face dehydration, hypothermia and death in the desert.
For deportees, returning is an act not just of determination, but of survival. Some are lucky enough to make it back, but as the Spanish saying goes, “Tanto va el cántaro al agua hasta que se quiebra”: The pitcher goes to the well until it finally breaks. Deportation policies push people to take increasingly greater risks to return to the only homes they’ve ever known. The next attempt could always be their last.
Deportation may well become the defining issue of our era if we continue down this punitive path. When mass deportations fail, what will follow? Will we see modern-day versions of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s executive order authorizing forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans, complete with “relocation centers”?
Under a very different executive order signed by President Biden in 2021, the Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs departments prioritized the return of deported U.S. military members and their families. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, similarly sought to recognize longtime residents’ ties to the country and restore their place in the American communities they call home.
Such policies live up to American ideals of justice and inclusion by embracing those who, in every meaningful way, already belong. Mass deportation would betray those values, put even more lives at risk and very often fail on its own terms.
Saúl Ramírez is a fellow at Harvard Law School and a doctoral candidate in sociology at Harvard.
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