The U.S. House on Friday approved a $1.2 trillion spending plan to fund the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year, sending the bill to the Senate hours ahead of a midnight shutdown deadline, our D.C. bureau reported. It was unclear as of Friday afternoon if senators would approve it in time to avoid a funding lapse, though the effects of the ensuing shutdown would likely not be felt until Monday, when most federal employees return to work.
The proposal survived only because of a hefty assist from Democrats, who joined Republicans in a 286-134 vote amid the usual outrage from far-right lawmakers over the concept of bipartisanship, their basic duties as members of Congress, and the ongoing mess at the southern border. They were, at least, united in their opposition; in the end, more Republicans voted against the bill than voted for it.
“Once again, it’s going to be House Democrats that carry necessary legislation for the American people to the finish line,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said before the vote.
As always, the GOP’s “concerns” are meaningless — particularly those related to immigration, which might be slightly less broken today if these very same far-right lawmakers had not tanked a bipartisan border security bill so Donald Trump could use the ongoing mess as a campaign talking point. They also got plenty of border-centric wins in the spending bill, which included funding for increased detention capacity, thousands of Border Patrol agents, and new security technology, along with cuts to foreign aid, including reductions to assistance specifically for Palestine.
This wasn’t enough for conservative lawmakers, because nothing is ever enough for conservative lawmakers, because that’s what happens when you elect people who have literally no interest in governing. Enter Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a Trump lackey and self-appointed captain of the outrage squad, who filed a motion Friday to dismiss Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for “betray[ing] our conference” and “break[ing] our rules.” It was, she admitted, mostly for show, at least for now.
“It’s more of a warning than a pink slip,” she told reporters. “We need a new speaker.”
Ousting their own speaker did not go well for Republicans when they tried it six months ago, and there’s little reason to believe it would go more smoothly this time. The caucus is still at war with itself, and its majority is thinner now than it was then, all but guaranteeing a lengthy and embarrassing floor fight. And that’s assuming anyone even wants the job, where you’re guaranteed to infuriate one faction or another regardless of what you do. In summary, this is a very clearly bad idea, to the point that even Rep. Matt Gaetz (Matt Gaetz!) is cautioning against it.
“If we vacated this speaker, we’d end up with a Democrat,” Gaetz predicted Thursday evening. “When I vacated the last one, I made a promise to the country that we would not end up with a Democrat speaker. I couldn’t make that promise again today.”
The rest of us continue to grapple with the side effects of a dysfunctional and extremist Congress, including a heightened risk of political violence that has prompted states to restrict guns in places where people vote or hand in ballots. The most recent is New Mexico, where Democrats (and only Democrats) approved a measure banning firearms within 100 feet of polling places and 50 feet of ballot drop boxes, subject to misdemeanor charges or up to six months in jail. At least 21 states have similar policies, nine of them enacted in the past two years, Stateline reported.
“Our national climate is increasingly polarized,” said New Mexico state Rep. Reena Szczepanski, a Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors. “Anything we can do to turn the temperature down and allow for the safe operation of our very basic democratic right, voting, is critical.”
Szczepanski and her colleagues penned the proposal after speaking with poll workers from Santa Fe, who faced harassment in 2020 from voters openly carrying firearms. The policy stops short of a blanket ban, with exceptions for people with concealed carry permits and members of law enforcement. But it was still a nonstarter for Republicans, who worried about gun owners facing criminal charges for accidentally bringing their firearm to the polls. (Who among us, etc.)
“We have a lot of real crime problems in this state,” House Minority Floor Leader Ryan Lane said last month during a legislative hearing. “It’s puzzling to me why we’re making this a priority.”
Well, someone has to. Our politics have grown increasingly toxic over the past several years, thanks to a hateful mix of inflammatory rhetoric, increased threats (particularly around elections), and a never-ending tsunami of disinformation. On a parallel track, we’ve got looser gun laws, record firearm sales and literal vigilantism at polling places and ballot tabulation centers. This is why election workers are leaving the field in droves, and why the ones who are still hanging in there are concerned for their safety. Throw in Trump’s remarks on any given day, and there’s your answer, New Mexico House Minority Floor Leader Ryan Lane.
“Our democracy has come under new and unnerving pressure based on the emergence of the election denial movement, disinformation and false narratives about the integrity of our elections,” said Robyn Sanders, a Democracy Program counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice, a left-leaning voting rights group based at the New York University School of Law. “The presence of guns in these places presents a risk of violence.”
But he probably already knew all tha
