Mike Johnson Wavers on Ending the Shutdown

New York Times: “Last Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson indignantly dismissed a Senate-passed bill deal to reopen the Homeland Security Department without funding for immigration enforcement as a ‘joke.’”

“By Wednesday, he was jointly issuing a news release with the Senate leader endorsing it.”

“But early Thursday morning, he declined to bring it up in the House, punting a chance to try to reopen the department until at least mid-April and avoiding the risk that hard-right Republicans would either block it or threaten to oust him for doing so. Then, he spent much of the afternoon huddled in a heated conference call with his angry GOP colleagues, privately trying to persuade them to eventually embrace the deal, which he had decried as ‘ridiculousness’ just days before.”

“That, too, apparently failed; there were no plans for the House to quickly reconvene, and by Thursday evening, it was not clear when or even whether Mr. Johnson might bring the bill up.”