Mike Johnson’s nightmare before Christmas

Presented by The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing: An evening recap of the action on Capitol Hill and preview of the day ahead

Dec 17, 2024 View in browser   By Jordain Carney Presented by The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team House Speaker Mike Johnson carries a gift as he emerges from his office to depart the U.S. Capitol, Dec. 16, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS The old holiday classic heard on the radio constantly in December tells us Christmas is “the best time of the year.” Try telling that to House Republicans. The slow rollout of a three-month continuing resolution, or CR, saw Speaker Mike Johnson come under criticism not only from some of his most frequent critics (the House Freedom Caucus and others in their corner) but also a broader swath of conservatives vowing to oppose it. It’s likely just the start of Johnson’s headaches heading into January and beyond. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) told Inside Congress that the CR, which he hadn’t seen text on yet, was “crap.” And in a shot across the bow, he added: “My fear is this is going to set up a speaker's fight in January.” Ogles added that some colleagues will “vent” but “actually going through with it is another issue or conversation.” That echoes a point we noted with Olivia when we surveyed conservatives after Tuesday morning’s closed-door conference. “But I think you’ll see some posturing” around the speaker’s race over the next two weeks, he added. Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), another Freedom Caucus member, asked about the potential impact on Johnson’s future, added: “I don’t know. Personally, I’m disappointed. I think that he can do better. I think that he can communicate better.” He declined to say how he would vote on Jan. 3. The speaker's vote aside, it’s a reminder of just how fragile Johnson’s position is as he tries to navigate what will be a miniscule majority next year. He was already down to a one-vote margin come January. And that was before Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) said she would remain a Republican but not attend conference meetings or hold committee seats. Even as Republicans hope the second Trump era can help them unify, they are also acknowledging their reality: There’s enough independent actors within their own conference that the current government spending fight is just a preview of their life next year. “There’s at least five good solid ‘no's' on every vote. … You want ice cream? ‘No,’” joked Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio). What Trump is saying: Any speaker’s fight would threaten to detract from the start of incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Ogles noted that Trump, in their most recent conversation said, “Make sure you don’t mess up my first 100 days.” Scheduling watch: Johnson was noncommittal on if he would stick to the typical rule of giving lawmakers 72 hours to review legislation. If text is released on Tuesday, it would result in a Friday vote in the House. But one House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly, offered this advice to Johnson: He should think of the CR as a steak. If he lets it sit out and marinate too long, there’s a risk it will go bad. — Jordain Carney GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Dec. 17, where we are checking vibes: When are you flying home and do you think you’ll make your flight?   A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing: Big Pharma’s patent abuse drives up drug prices and blocks competition – costing patients and the U.S. health care system billions. Patent thickets protect profits, not innovation, and extend monopolies on blockbuster drugs while millions of Americans struggle to afford their medications. This year, the Senate unanimously passed Cornyn-Blumenthal, a bipartisan solution to curb these anti-competitive tactics. Time is running out – Congress must pass Cornyn-Blumenthal and deliver relief to patients before it’s too late. Learn more.   DOGE-CEMBER As the House waited for the stopgap spending bill text, the chamber’s DOGE caucus convened to plan a path forward for massive cuts to federal spending. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said the brief meeting wasn’t for people to make grand pitches. “Prioritizing things we can get, reasonable things … just like a road map. Where you're gonna go, you gotta have a map,” he told reporters after the session. There were slides handed out about the “initiative scoring framework” and an “ease of implementation” matrix that the group may use to weigh proposals. Tiers such as “quick wins,” “worthwhile lift,” “low hanging fruit” and “lower priority” would categorize proposals. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) said the DOGE caucus discussed an overview of its goals during the Tuesday afternoon meeting. “They want us all to submit our ideas,” he said. “They’re going to break it into groups.” While it’s no secret that some Republican lawmakers would like to see Trump defund programs using impoundment power to hold back money Congress approved for a specific purpose, Norman said impoundment targets didn’t come up at Tuesday’s meeting. Dems on hand: While Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) made a splash as the first Democrat interested in joining the House’s DOGE efforts, he wasn’t the only Democrat on hand Tuesday. Nevada’s Stephen Horsford and Oregon’s Val Hoyle were also in attendance. Taste of opposition: For lawmakers interested in exploring cuts to the $3.8 trillion a year in spending on “mandatory” programs like Medicare, Social Security, food stamps and Medicaid, they got a taste of the opposition: A loud Social Security activist chased down each member urging them to “pledge” to not touch the program. — Katherine Tully-McManus and Hailey Fuchs    A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing:   WHAT TO WATCH AT THE DEM STEERING MEETING House Democrats’ influential Steering and Policy Committee is set to name their picks to lead congressional panels after a series of contentious elections. Buckle up for a long Tuesday night session. The vast majority of Democratic committee leaders faced no challengers for their roles heading into the next Congress. But several key panels underwent generational shakeups after their leaders faced questions about their ability to confront the incoming Republican trifecta in Washington. On the Natural Resources panel, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) ended his bid to lead the panel again after facing a challenge from Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) also opted not to run at Judiciary again after Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) launched a bid. But on the Agriculture panel, Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who’s faced questions about his health, finished in a distant third in an internal caucus panel election before dropping out of the race. House Democratic leaders had largely stayed above the fray as lawmakers rebelled against their committee leaders, though in private conversations they generally did not wave off or dissuade them from launching their bids — a sign many Democrats took as a tacit endorsement of the committee challenges. The committee shakeup reflected caucus generational divides, with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi backing old allies like Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) for Agriculture and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) for Oversight. (Costa did not win, Connolly did.) These positions require the full Democratic caucus’ approval, though the uncontested spots are expected to be approved without opposition. Here’s who the steering panel is set to name: Foreign Affairs: Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.)   Armed Services: Adam Smith (D-Wash.)  Homeland Security: Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) Science, Space, and Technology: Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) Administration: Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.)  Small Business: Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.)  Education and Workforce: Bobby Scott (D-Va.) Transportation and Infrastructure: Rick Larsen (D-Wash.)  Veterans’ Affairs: Mark Takano (D-Calif.)  Judiciary: Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)  — Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz  HUDDLE HOTDISH A very special gift for the one and only speaker pro tempore. Mike Waltz does 44 push ups for Army’s 31-13 loss to Navy. Ruben Gallego’s family is expanding — again! John Fetterman lost this football bet — and he paid up in a very public way. AI helped Jennifer Wexton give her farewell speech in the House, in a voice that sounds very much like her own.   A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing: Big Pharma’s patent abuse drives up drug prices and blocks competition – costing patients and the U.S. health care system billions. Patent thickets protect profits, not innovation, and extend monopolies on blockbuster drugs while millions of Americans struggle to afford their medications. This year, the Senate unanimously passed Cornyn-Blumenthal, a bipartisan solution to curb these anti-competitive tactics. Time is running out – Congress must pass Cornyn-Blumenthal and deliver relief to patients before it’s too late. Learn more.   QUICK LINKS  After learning hard lessons in Austin, Greg Casar to take Congressional Progressive Caucus in new direction, from Matthew Choi at The Texas Tribune From Sleeping on Floors to History-Making Senator: How Ruben Gallego Fought Back When Childhood Took a Turn (Exclusive), from Diane Herbst at People After learning hard lessons in Austin, Greg Casar to take Congressional Progressive Caucus in new direction by Matthew Choi at the Texas Tribune TRANSITIONS  Megan Jackson will serve as Republican staff director and Sophie Khanahmadi will be deputy staff director on the House Energy and Commerce Committee under new Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.). Jackson was most recently vice president of policy and government relations at Alkermes, Inc. Khanahmadi will come over from Guthrie’s office, where she was chief of staff. Andrew Mamo is now a practitioner in residence at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. He was previously comms director for Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s (D-Wis.) reelect. Send us your next steps to insidecongress@politico.com. WEDNESDAY IN CONGRESS The House and Senate are in session. WEDNESDAY AROUND THE HILL 4 p.m. — Former Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney will have her portrait unveiling. (Cannon Caucus Room) TRIVIA MONDAY’S ANSWER: Graydon Daubert was the first to correctly guess that Congress passed its first reconciliation bill in 1980. TODAY’S QUESTION, from deputy editor Tyler Weyant: In what year was the first Capitol Christmas tree placed on the grounds, and what state was it from? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening.   Follow us

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