“Democratic lawmakers are discussing a litany of options to protest at President Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday, including through outright disruption,” Axios reports.
“Some of these tactics go beyond their leaders’ recommendation that members bring guests hurt by Trump and DOGE. This sets up a potential clash between party traditionalists and its more combative anti-Trump wing.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) threatened a former Department of Veterans Affairs worker for asking a question during work hours in an exchange on LinkedIn over the weekend, WCPT reports.
Van Orden responded by telling the worker he would “be referring you to DOGE as it seems that at 13:46 on a Monday you should have been working for veterans, not posting trash about your boss, President Trump.”
Former Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), the first Black woman elected to Congress as a Republican, faces an increasingly grave prognosis as her condition has worsened while fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Said daughter Abigale Love: “Sadly her cancer is no longer responding to treatment and the cancer is progressing.”
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“Frustrations are growing as Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) wait to be confirmed as ambassador to the United Nations could stretch until April due to the House’s ultra-slim majority,” The Hill reports.
“Stefanik is facing a unique problem. Despite numerous international crises facing the U.S. and UN, she is considered more valuable in the House as lawmakers try to cobble together Trump’s agenda. That was especially the case for a dramatic Tuesday vote on the House’s budget resolution, when her presence was crucial.”
“The night before Speaker Mike Johnson defied the hard-right wing of his party and brought up a bill to send more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, he spent a mostly sleepless night in a luxury hotel suite overlooking the Potomac River, bracing for a mutiny that would end his speakership,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Johnson spent the night praying in the living room of their suite at the Pendry. In the morning, he told his wife he was going to do what he thought was right, regardless of the personal political cost. He would move ahead with legislation to continue funding Kyiv’s fight against Russian aggression, telling colleagues that he wanted to be on the right side of history.”
“Less that one year later, Mr. Johnson still has his job and has made a 180-degree conversion on Ukraine.”
A trio of Democratic governors from states Donald Trump won in 2024 are set to appear at House Democrats’ policy retreat in mid-March, Politico reports.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are all scheduled to present on “their approaches to governing a state that President Trump carried in 2024.”
Last November, Rep. Victoria Sparz (R-IN) “confided to some of her staffers in meetings that she planned to oppose the speaker whenever possible and was planning on taking down Johnson,” Politico reports.
Speaker Mike Johnson is living in a $3.7 million townhouse in Washington, D.C. that is the center of an evangelical pastor’s secretive influence campaign — and the home is owned by a major Republican donor, ProPublica reports.
Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN that Americans who attended recent rowdy Republican town halls were “paid protesters.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) “will introduce a resolution to affirm Congress’s support for the 22nd Amendment limiting presidents to two terms in office, as President Trump and his allies continue to talk about pushing for a third term,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Goldman said he is exploring ways to force a vote on the resolution, even though Democrats are in the minority in the House. This could include using a tactic known as a discharge petition, which can force consideration of a bill if it has enough backing from members of Congress and would put Republicans on the record.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Thursday that he’s trying to schedule a meeting of House Republicans with Elon Musk soon to discuss the work of the Department of Government Efficiency,” Politico reports.
“Johnson, who met with Musk at the White House late Tuesday, said the billionaire adviser to President Donald Trump would ‘meet with either small groups of members, appropriators or maybe all the House Republicans,’ likely next week or shortly thereafter.”
Wall Street Journal: “Democrats can make life uncomfortable for Republicans in the House because of the GOP’s razor-thin majority and constant infighting. But only if they show up. The good news for Republicans: Democrats typically miss more votes than Republicans do, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows, often giving the GOP extra padding on the most contentious measures.”
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) is drafting legislation to create a new $250 bill with President Donald Trump’s face on it
Punchbowl News: “It’s clear that House Democrats believe they have been handed a political gift, as they were in the early 2010s with the Paul Ryan budget and in 2017 with the effort to defund Obamacare.”
Said Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “House Republicans are trying to enact the largest Medicaid cut in American history. It will devastate children, families, people with disabilities, nursing homes, hospitals, and wreak havoc across America. Those Frontline, so-called moderate Republicans that took that vote to decimate Medicaid will live to regret it.”
“For a Democratic Party in search of an identity – and a leader – in the wake of November’s defeat, the GOP’s decision to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from social-safety net programs to offset tax cuts provides a critical issue to rally around. You could hear it in Jeffries’ floor speech on Tuesday, and you will hear it every day between now and Election Day.”
“I don’t change my vote if things don’t change. I don’t think you guys get right memo. I never change my vote without changes in the rules or changes in procedures.”
— Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), quoted by The Hill, before changing her vote.
“Even though we’ve requested data and insight, it was hidden. How many of you know that bureaucracy was not forthcoming, right? They weren’t transparent. That’s the problem—that’s the deep state we talk about… But Elon has cracked the code. He is now inside the agencies. He has created algorithms that are constantly crawling through the data. As he told me in his office, the data doesn’t lie.”
— Speaker Mike Johnson, quoted by RealClearPolitics.
“We just won back the House.”
— Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), quoted by the Washington Post, as she walked off the floor after House Republicans passed their budget resolution.
“House Republicans are becoming weary and wary of in-person town hall meetings after a number of lawmakers have faced hometown crowds angry about the Trump administration’s push to slash government programs and staffing,” NBC News reports.
“Party leaders suggest that if lawmakers feel the need to hold such events, they do tele-town halls or at least vet attendees to avoid scenes that become viral clips, according to GOP sources.”
“A GOP aide said House Republican leaders are urging lawmakers to stop engaging in them altogether.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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