Mike Johnson, Wet Noodle
The Bulwark · C · trust 36/100
Democrats can (and should) run against the do-anything-Trump-wants Congress.
William Kristol , Jim Swift , and Andrew Egger September 2 Upgrade to listen 19 minutes 560 262 56 Donald Trump has spent two years openly favoring red states over blue ones while disbursing federal disaster relief funds, but it’s still surreal to see him talk openly about it. In a Truth Social post last night , Trump had this to say:
I just informed Governor Greg Abbott, of the GREAT State of Texas (who has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election!), that I am sending 50.5 Million Dollars to assist recovery efforts from the severe storms, winds, tornadoes, and flooding that hit them hard. Texas is a special place, and I will be back soon to support Governor Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, and the entire ticket of Republican Candidates, who have my Complete and Total Endorsement. See you soon!
Elect Republicans—you don’t want the aid spigot turned off, right? Happy Wednesday.
Join Mark Hertling and Ben Parker for Command Post at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Substack and YouTube .
(Photo illustration by Sarah Rogers/ The Bulwark | Photos: Getty, Shutterstock) The Rubber-Stamp Congress by William Kristol
Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot this November. But these midterms are a referendum on him. The 119th Congress has been controlled by the Republican party. That party’s distinctive feature, its defining characteristic, is that it has supported Trump. It’s done so uniformly, mindlessly, and obediently.
So the Democrats’ message—the broad democratic opposition’s message—this fall is simple: If you want another rubber-stamp Congress, vote Republican. But if you want a Congress that will challenge and check all of those Trump administration policies you dislike, vote Democratic.
That message should work. The current Congress was elected on November 5, 2024, with Republicans taking 49.8 percent of the national vote for the House, as Donald Trump won 49.8 percent of the vote in the presidential election. Trump won by 1.5 percent, the Republican House candidates by 2.6 percent. Republicans were tied at the hip to Trump then, as they now.
Today Trump’s approval rating is about 38 percent . The steady decline in his approval over his second term in office will flip the House, and it puts the Senate very much in play.
That’s why Republicans in competitive states and districts are trying to edge away from Trump. Joe Perticone writes that he
spoke to eight different incumbent Republicans running in some of the closest races this cycle, and not a single one of them confirmed they planned to attend [the GOP midterm convention in Dallas next week], what Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters has dubbed “Trumpapalooza.”
So Democrats will run against Trump’s higher prices, against Trump’s tariffs, against Trump’s war. But of course they’ll also need to remind voters that the Republican Congress has enabled those policies.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to help them out yesterday.
CNN’s Manu Raju asked Johnson about his past projections about the Iran war, including calling it a skirmish that would be over in short order and lead to just a “temporary blip” in gas prices.
“That is one of the stupidest questions you’ve ever asked,” Johnson snapped. “I have nothing to do with the prosecution of the war across the globe.”
So the official position of the speaker is that he—and by extension the House of Representatives—have nothing to do with matters of war and peace. And in fact his party has voted time and again not to stop the war. It hasn’t even used its control of Congress to challenge the conduct of the war.
At a press conference yesterday, Johnson was asked: “One of your members just said Hegseth has gone overboard on the firings there in the aftermath of Dan Driscoll’s resignation. How do you explain what’s happening at the Pentagon?”
Johnson’s answer? “I trust the secretary of war [sic] to handle his business over there. . . . I have to trust they’re doing the right thing. . . . I’m literally not qualified to address that.”
The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility for declaring war, raising armed forces, appropriating funds for them, and making rules for their government and regulation. Do the American people want another Congress that utterly disclaims these responsibilities? Do the American people want another Republican Congress that rubber-stamps a war that’s a failure and that provides no oversight of a Defense Department in chaos?
At that same press conference yesterday, House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan assured us that “This has been the most aggressive and productive Congress since Speaker Joseph Martin’s 80th Congress in 1949.” Speaker Johnson agreed: “This has literally been the most productive, successful and aggressive Congress since 1949. And I think it’s in the top five of all time.”
The 80th Congress, controlled by the Republican party, was in session from 1947 to 1949. It’s gone down in history as the famous “Do Nothing Congress” because Harry Truman succeeded in stapling that slogan to its forehead during the 1948 election campaign. On November 2, 1948, as Truman won his great come-from-behind victory, voters kicked Republicans out of power in Congress. Republicans lost seventy-five House seats, as well as nine senate seats, a feat of failure unmatched since.
It’s kind of amazing that the Republican leadership in the 119th Congress wants to compare itself to the 80th Congress. Democrats should certainly thank them for doing so.
But they might also take a look at Harry Truman’s message during his very effective campaign. Here’s an example, from a stump speech by Truman on October 7, 1948, in Elizabeth, New Jersey:
The Republicans are trying to hide the truth from you in a great…
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