Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader (D-NY) referred to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as vice speaker of the House for months. Jeffries told reporters and the American people that Johnson was bowing to Trump. What many people thought was metaphorical turns out to be literal.
Trump joked that he was the Speaker of the House. There were even rumors that some Republicans wanted Trump to be Speaker of the House before he returned to the White House.
Sarah Jones talks about Trump and power:
However, NOTUS reported that Johnson ceded part of his power as president to Trump:
But it’s not just about winning votes. Sometimes Johnson ceded other powers that usually belong to the speaker.
According to two sources who spoke to NOTUS, Johnson repeatedly asked members seeking to introduce a bill to first get approval from the administration.
“This is a complete dereliction of responsibility to the White House,” another House Republican told NOTUS. “Everything must be predetermined and pre-blessed, and there are very few things over which we can exercise our own will. We should be empowered to adopt our own priorities, not just follow the mandate of the day.”
A senior Republican Party official rejected the idea that relying on the president is a bad thing.
A big part of the problem is that a top House Republican aide defended this practice, which amounts to destroying the Constitution.