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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Chris Stein

Republican House majority goes from bad to worse as another lawmaker announces early leave – as it happened

RNC Donald Trump Joe Biden United States
Republican Mike Gallagher
Republican Mike Gallagher Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Closing summary

The good news for Republican House speaker Mike Johnson is that his chamber managed to pass legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown that is set to begin at midnight. The bad news is that the bill was supported by more Democrats than Republicans, and rightwing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene subsequently introduced a motion to kick him out of the speaker’s chair. Greene took issue with his approach to government spending, and specifically his collaboration with Democrats, but noted she viewed the motion as “a warning”, and did not say when she would call it up for a vote. House lawmakers are now heading out for a two-week recess, and the saga will likely continue after they return. As for the government shutdown threat, it’s now up to the Democratic-led Senate to pass the House’s bill, which Joe Biden says he will sign. They are expected to do that later today.

Here’s what else happened today:

  • Republican congressman Mike Gallagher announced he would leave Congress next month, dropping the GOP’s House majority down to just one seat.

  • At least two Democrats reportedly said they would not be on board with removing Johnson as speaker.

  • Russia and China vetoed an attempt by the United States to win UN security council approval of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

  • Donald Trump has reportedly unveiled a new funding strategy that will see donations channeled to a group that is paying his substantial legal bills.

  • Trump’s social media firm is going public after a shareholder voter, meaning the ex-president will soon be $3b richer.

Georgia Republican congressman Mike Collins won a reputation for tweeting his way through the chaotic weeks following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker in October, and has maintained his sense of humor as the GOP majority shrinks to one seat:

That is, of course, a reference to the troubles Boeing has had with some of its planes lately.

Meanwhile, Politico reports that soon-to-be-former congressman Mike Gallagher was recently sending his fellow lawmakers a certain book and cryptic note, both of which make a lot more sense now:

Meanwhile, the government funding saga is far from over.

The Senate must now approve the bill that the House passed earlier today. Politico reports that the chamber’s Democratic leader has invoked cloture on the measure, but that would only allow a vote on Sunday, and the government would partially shutdown at midnight tonight:

In a speech on the Senate floor earlier today before the House passed the bill Schumer made clear he does not want that to happen:

Democrats and Republicans have about thirteen hours to work together to make sure the government stays open. That’s not going to be easy. We will have to work together – and avoid unnecessary delays.

This morning, the House will move first on the funding package, and as soon as they send us a bill, the Senate will spring into action. To my colleagues on both sides: let’s finish the job today. Let’s avoid even a weekend shutdown. Let’s finish the job of funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.

There is no reason to delay. There is no reason to drag out this process. If Senators cooperate on a time agreement, if we prioritize working together – just as we did two weeks ago – I am optimistic we can succeed.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered well wishes to the Princess of Wales following her announcement that she has been diagnosed with cancer:

We have a live blog covering that breaking story out of the UK, and you can read it here:

Recall that Mike Johnson became House speaker after eight Republicans joined with every House Democrat to vote Kevin McCarthy out of the job.

If Marjorie Taylor Greene could assemble a line up like that again, Johnson’s speakership would be at real risk. But CNN reports that at least two Democrats aren’t interested in playing along, perhaps signaling a broader shift in sentiment among the caucus.

Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger indicates that if Johnson allowed a vote on aid to Israel and Ukraine, she’d be in favor of keeping him around:

New York’s Tom Suozzi, who was not around in October, when McCarthy was booted, said he wouldn’t support the effort either:

Asked at the ongoing White House press briefing about Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to remove Mike Johnson as speaker of the House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre managed to simultaneously say nothing, and everything.

“We’re just not going to speak to what’s going on with the leadership,” she said, at the tail end of a lengthy reply that amounted to a recitation of Joe Biden’s accomplishments.

But Jean-Pierre could not resist making light of the latest troubles Republicans are having hanging on to Congress’s lower chamber.

“I guess … get your popcorn, sit tight,” she said, as she concluded her answer.

The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents disclosed that she had granted some requests by special counsel prosecutors to withhold discovery materials from the former president – but had reserved making a decision on others.

In an eight-page order, US district judge Aileen Cannon wrote that she had allowed special counsel Jack Smith to substitute summaries or make redactions to two categories of classified documents that Trump was entitled to have access to through the discovery process.

Cannon also disclosed that she had allowed prosecutors to entirely withhold a third category of documents neither “helpful nor relevant” to Trump’s defense theories – the legal standard to withhold discovery in national security cases – and reserved ruling on a fourth category of documents.

Trump was indicted last year for retaining national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago club, under the Espionage Act, meaning the case is proceeding to trial under the complicated and sequential steps laid out in the Classified Information Procedures Act, or Cipa.

To protect against unnecessary disclosure of national security cases, under section 4 of Cipa, prosecutors can request to withhold certain classified documents from defendants.

Cannon granted prosecutors’ requests to give Trump summaries of category 3 documents (classified documents related to a potential trial witness) and to keep away from Trump all documents in category 4 (classified documents which Cannon did not identify but wrote were not helpful or relevant to Trump).

Cannon disclosed in her order that she had reserved ruling on some of the documents because they were tied up in a separate motion filed by Trump requesting additional discovery materials about bias within the US intelligence community that would help his defense.

The concession was significant because it indicated Cannon had still not decided what to do with Trump’s sweeping request for more discovery, which Trump’s lawyers filed more than two months ago, and appears to increasingly be contributing to major delays in the case.

Republican House majority goes from bad to worse as another lawmaker announces plans to leave early

Republican congressman Mike Gallagher announced he will resign his seat on 19 April, further winnowing down the GOP’s already slim control of the House.

Gallagher had earlier this year announced plans not to seek re-election, but now says he will leave his seat early, dropping the Republicans’ slim majority to 217 seats, with Democrats holding 213 seats. That means Republicans can only lose one member on votes that Democrats oppose unanimously.

“After conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign my position as a member of the House of Representatives for Wisconsin’s Eighth Congressional District, effective April 19, 2024,” Gallagher said in a surprise statement.

He noted that he “worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline” and “my office will continue to operate and provide constituent services to the Eighth District for the remainder of the term.”

Updated

In the latest twist in the power struggle between the right-wing leaders of Texas and the federal government, a group of migrants got into a struggle with Texas National Guard troops under the control of the governor yesterday – while they were waiting to turn themselves in to federal border patrol agents to request asylum.

In footage that dominated morning news TV in the US on Friday, ABC reported that border agents said that troops under state control were trying to corral and apprehend a group of migrants stuck behind one of Texas governor Greg Abbott’s razor wire fences in El Paso, which was installed as part of Abbott’s controversial Operation Lone Star program.

The people were on US soil and the fence was on public land, ABC reported.

Speaking to the El Paso Times, migrants said that Texas national guard soldiers were forcefully pushing them back behind the fencing in US territory. In a caption accompanying a video of the border unrest, Mexican journalist J Omar Ornelas wrote, “Hundreds of migrants were pushed south of the concertina wire in the middle of the night by Texas National Guard. Hours later they again breached the concertina and made a rush for the border wall in El Paso, Texas.”

During the unrest, some migrants appeared to raise their hands in surrender while others ran to the federal border wall. Customs and Border Patrol later said the group had been moved elsewhere for processing.

Earlier this week, Texas was thrust into a state of confusion after an appeals court blocked a controversial new state law that would allow local police to arrest anyone that they believe entered the US illegally – a jurisdiction typically granted to federal immigration authorities, not local police. The freeze came just hours after the US supreme court allowed the law to go into effect.

The day so far

The good news for Republican House speaker Mike Johnson is that his chamber managed to pass legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown that is set to begin at midnight. The bad news is that the bill was supported by more Democrats than Republicans, and rightwing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene subsequently introduced a motion to kick him out of the speaker’s chair. Greene took issue with his approach to government spending, and specifically his collaboration with Democrats, but noted she viewed the motion as “a warning”, and did not say when she would call it up for a vote. House lawmakers are now heading out for a two-week recess, and the saga will likely continue after they return. As for the government shutdown threat, it’s now up to the Democratic-led Senate to pass the House’s bill, which Joe Biden says he will sign. They are expected to do that later today.

Here’s what else is going on:

  • Russia and China vetoed an attempt by the United States to win UN security council approval of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

  • Donald Trump has reportedly unveiled a new funding strategy that will see donations channeled to a group that is paying his substantial legal bills.

  • Trump’s social media firm is going public after a shareholder voter, meaning the ex-president will soon be $3b richer.

Johnson calls funding bill 'best achievable outcome'

Republican House speaker Mike Johnson has issued an upbeat statement on the government funding measure, saying it enacted some conservative policies and was the best-case scenario for the GOP, considering Democrats control the Senate and White House.

“House Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defense. The process was also an important step in breaking the omnibus muscle memory and represents the best achievable outcome in a divided government,” the speaker said.

He did not comment on the motion to remove him as the House’s leader, which was filed by rightwing lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has tweeted an image of her resolution to remove fellow Republican Mike Johnson as speaker:

It does not appear to be privileged, meaning it does not have to be voted on before lawmakers depart for their two-week recess, which they are scheduled to do later today.

Asked earlier about her timeline for the removal push, Greene said the motion is “filed but it’s not voted on. It only gets voted on until I call it to the floor for a vote.”

She did not say when she will do that.

Marjorie Taylor Greene listed a ream of grievances against Mike Johnson, much of which centered on his approach to funding the government.

She noted that, since become speaker in late October, he allowed votes on short-term measures to keep the government open, and gave lawmakers less than 72 hours to consider the just-passed legislation to prevent a partial shutdown that would have begun at midnight.

Greene did not like any of that:

This is a betrayal of the American people. This is a betrayal of Republican voters. And the bill that we were forced to vote on forced Republicans to choose between funding to pay our soldiers and, in doing so, funding late-term abortion. This bill was basically a dream and a wish list for Democrats and for the White House. It was completely led by Chuck Schumer, not our Republican speaker of the House, not our conference, and we weren’t even allowed to put amendments to the floor to have a chance to make changes to the bill.

Rightwing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene confirms effort to remove Mike Johnson over government funding

Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol, rightwing Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene confirmed she has filed a motion to remove Mike Johnson as House speaker, but described it as “a warning” rather than an attempt to boot him.

The Georgia lawmaker cited Johnson’s approach to funding the government, and criticized him for working with Democrats.

“I filed a motion to vacate today, but it’s more of a warning and a pink slip,” she said. “I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and to throw the House in chaos, but this is basically a warning and it’s time for us to go through the process, take our time and find a new speaker of the house that will stand with Republicans and our Republican majority instead of standing with the Democrats.”

We have yet to hear rightwing Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene explain why she wants to remove Mike Johnson as speaker of the House.

But it may have something to do with his cooperation with Democrats to prevent a partial government shutdown. More Democrats than Republicans supported the just-passed $1.2tn funding measure that authorizes spending in federal departments where it has not already been approved:

Rightwing lawmakers have made clear that Republican leadership should not work with Democrats. In fact, it was a similar scenario that led to Kevin McCarthy’s removal as House speaker in October. He struck a deal with the Democratic minority to prevent a shutdown, and days later was out of the job:

House passes funding bill to prevent partial government shutdown

The House has approved a $1.2tn government funding bill that will prevent a partial shutdown, with 286 votes in favor against 134 opposed.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later today, and Joe Biden has said he will sign it.

Here is Marjorie Taylor Greene’s floor speech from earlier today assailing the government funding bill currently under consideration by the House:

Voting is nearly done on the measure, which requires a two-thirds majority to pass. It currently has received 285 votes in favor and 132 opposed. Fifteen lawmakers have yet to weigh in.

Rightwing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene moves to oust Mike Johnson as House speaker - report

Rightwing Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a motion to remove Mike Johnson as speaker of the House, Punchbowl News reports:

In a speech minutes ago on the House floor, Greene strenuously objected to the government funding bill that is currently being voted on, calling it “a Chuck Schumer Democrat-controlled bill”. Greene and her fellow lawmakers on the far right of the Republican party have openly mulled removing Johnson from the speaker’s post if he works with Democrats, who have said they’ll support the funding bill.

Last October, a small group of Republicans, together with all of the chamber’s Democrats, managed to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker, rendering the House dysfunctional for weeks until the GOP elected Johnson as his replacement. Greene did not support that effort.

As we wait for the House to make up its mind about government spending, the Guardian’s Callum Jones reports that plans to take Donald Trump’s social media firm public are moving forward, and the ex-president could soon wind up $3bn richer:

Investors approved plans to take Donald Trump’s social media platform public on Friday, netting the former president a paper fortune of $3bn.

Trump Media & Technology, the firm behind his minnow social network Truth Social, has spent years fighting to land on the stock market via a so-called “blank check” merger with a shell company.

It finally succeeded on Friday morning, following a vote of shareholders in Digital World Acquisition, the vehicle with which Trump’s business has sought to combine.

While Trump Media has struggled since Truth Social’s lackluster launch, generating sales of only about $5m since 2021, Trump’s supporters banded together to boost shares in Digital World. The stock has rallied by some 145% since the turn of the year, boosting the firm’s value to about $6bn.

The company will now trade on the stock market as Trump Media & Technology Group under the stock ticker “DJT” – Trump’s initials.

Ahead of the announcement, Digital World’s stock price was $44, suggesting the new company will debut with a value of more than $5bn. Trump’s holding in the combined business is listed at 79m shares, leaving him with a stake of about $3bn on paper. He will not be able to cash in this stake straight away, however, as key shareholders in the company are unable to sell stock for six months after the merger.

Voting has now begun in the House on the government funding bill.

It will keep crucial federal departments where spending has not yet been authorized, such as the state and defense departments, running through the end of September.

It needs a two-thirds majority of votes to pass, and then must be approved by the Senate. Joe Biden says he will sign it.

Rightwing Republicans are currently assailing the spending bill on the House floor, with Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene calling it “a Chuck Schumer Democrat-controlled bill coming from the House majority that is supposed to be controlled by Republicans.”

“It is the will of our voters and it is the will of Republicans across the country that this bill should not be brought to the floor, that this bill will absolutely destroy our majority and will tell every single one of our voters that this majority is a failure,” she continued. “This is the bill that the White House cannot wait to sign into law.”

Republican speaker Mike Johnson supports the bill, and is seeking to pass it under suspension of the House rules – which requires a two-thirds majority vote for passage. We’ll see if he gets there.

As Congress scrambles to avert shutdown, rightwing lawmakers urge Republicans to reject funding bill

Shortly before 11am, we expect the House to vote on a funding bill to prevent a partial government shutdown that would begin at midnight. The legislation – which authorizes spending by government departments that has not already been approved by an earlier law – needs the support of two-thirds of Congress’s lower chamber to pass.

As they have done with previous spending bills, rightwing Republicans are urging their colleagues to vote against the measure, and have spent this morning detailing their objections, both face to face at the Capitol, and on X. Here’s Georgia’s Andrew Clyde:

Perhaps more worrying is the announcement from Alabama Republican Robert Aderholt that he will not vote for the bill. Aderholt is relatively high ranking as the chair of a House appropriations subcommittee, and in a statement said: “I have multiple concerns, among them are the many new social services that this bill would create for the millions of illegal immigrants streaming across our border. Additionally, it would fund facilities providing routine abortion services, including late-term abortions.”

We’ll be keeping an eye on the vote, which is expected to start in about 20 minutes. The bill also must be approved by the Senate.

During his first presidential campaign, Donald Trump was greeted with skepticism, if not outright opposition, from conservative talk show hosts in swing state Wisconsin. Eight years later, the Guardian’s Alice Herman reports that they have become ardent backers of his quest to return to the White House. Here’s why:

It was March 2016. Wisconsin’s Republican primary was just days away, and the GOP establishment was making a desperate last attempt to block Donald Trump from the Republican nomination.

Vicki McKenna, a popular Wisconsin-based conservative talkshow host, had just spent 25 minutes grilling Trump on policy when she turned to Trump’s decision to mock the physical appearance of Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi. “So, no more wife-bashing?” she asked. When Trump tried to excuse the attack, she wouldn’t let it go: “How about this: how about wives and kids, off-limits?”

Trump began to push back again – then decided better. “Best of luck to you, Vicki. Best of luck,” he said before a click.

“He just hung up on me,” McKenna said after a long pause. “That’s OK, he gave me 25 minutes. That was fun.”

Charlie Sykes, who was then the state’s biggest conservative radio star on the Milwaukee-area station WTMJ, told Trump in another contentious interview that he was like “a 12-year-old bully on the playground”.

US resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza falls to Russia, China veto at UN security council

An attempt by the United States to win UN security council approval of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was vetoed by Russia and China, with Moscow’s envoy accusing Washington of “misleading the international community”.

We have a separate live blog covering the latest on this developing story. Follow along here:

Trump's unorthodox fundraising strategy indicates concerns over legal bills

By prioritizing organizations authorized to pay his legal bills, Donald Trump is signaling that the multi-pronged court offensive against him is taking a financial toll, experts told the Associated Press.

“The reason most candidates don’t do this is because the hardest money to raise is money that can be spent directly on the campaign,” executive director of the Campaign Legal Center Adav Noti said. “No other candidate has used a leadership PAC the way the Trump campaign has.”

According to the AP, donors at Trump’s 6 April fundraiser in Florida will see their funds first channeled to the former president’s campaign. After that receives the maximum allowable under law, money will go to Save America Pac, which spends most of its money on Trump’s lawyers.

“No other candidate has used a leadership PAC the way the Trump campaign has,” Noti said.

Campaign finance attorney Brett Kappel summed it up: “Trump is in dire need of money to pay his legal fees and he’s draining his PAC and he’s spending huge amounts of money out of his campaign committee.”

Fresh fundraising push by Trump to cover massive legal costs while RNC election coffers struggle

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump may be on course to once again win the Republican presidential nomination, but he’s also dealing with big legal bills brought on by the four criminal cases against him, along with several civil suits that have won pricey judgments thus far. The Associated Press reports that the former president has come up with a solution: an agreement with the Republican National Committee that will allow him to first funnel donations to organizations that cover his legal bills, before they reach the RNC. He’ll hope to start raking it in – and potentially cover his massive finance gap with Joe Biden – on 6 April, when Trump has invited donors to a fundraiser in Florida.

He may be behind the president in money, but polls continue to indicate Trump is leading Biden in public support. CNN and SSRS this morning released new polling that found the two men are tied in Pennsylvania, and Trump is ahead of Biden in Michigan – both swing states crucial to either’s path to victory. The survey also found a familiar dynamic: less than half of voters in the two states say they are happy with their choices for president, confirming other polls that have found Americans are not exactly fired up about the 2020 rematch expected to play out in November.

Here’s what else is going on today:

  • Congress is scrambling to pass a $1.2tn bill that will prevent a partial government shutdown set to begin at midnight. The first votes are expected in the House of Representatives at 11am, and it will need a two-thirds majority to pass – a tight margin for any bill.

  • The United States is expected to introduce a resolution at the United Nations calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. We have a separate live blog following the latest on that.

  • The White House press briefing kicks off at 1.30pm ET. Expect questions about Israel, Biden’s polling, and the beleaguered impeachment effort.

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