Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) urged President-elect Trump to visit the nation’s capital to unify the GOP regarding the controversial funding bill. “There’s one person that can control the Republican caucus in the United States House of Representatives right now, and that’s Donald J. Trump,” he said on Fox News on Thursday.
Kennedy described the bill as causing a metaphorical “multi-vehicle pileup” on Capitol Hill, one that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has struggled to manage on his own. He emphasized that this was not Johnson’s fault, attributing the chaos to the Republican Party being full of “free-range chickens.” Kennedy added that Trump’s involvement was essential to restore order and move things forward. “Let’s face it, he’s the president now. It’s not President Biden,” he said. “President Trump needs to sit down with Mike Johnson and [Sen.] John Thune [R-S.D.] and come up with a new skinny CR.”
“If the president wants to do something on the debt limit, we need to find out what it is and put it in the bill. Then the president’s going to have to help Mike sell it in the House… Speaker Johnson’s problem is that, on the Republican side, he’s got a bunch of free-range chickens. I’m not criticizing them, but they wander off and Mike can’t catch all of them by himself,” he said.
The bill introduced Tuesday evening includes an extension of government funding through March 14, along with provisions for disaster relief for hurricane damage, support for farmers, health care reforms targeting the pharmacy benefit manager industry, and a pay increase for members of Congress. Johnson (R-La.) has faced significant criticism from fellow Republicans over his handling of the continuing resolution (CR), just two weeks ahead of a House vote to determine whether he will remain in his position. He can only afford a defection or two in that vote and be elected Speaker by a majority of the House.
“There’s one person that can control the Republican caucus in the United States House of Representatives right now, and that’s Donald J. Trump,” Kennedy said during Fox & Friends. “Could that change? Sure, but Speaker Johnson cannot [control the caucus]. It’s clear he hasn’t been able to do so. It’s not his fault. I’m not sure anybody could, but he can’t get all the Republicans together in the House and, in order to pass the C.R., he’s got to do that without Democratic support.” He added: “I think President Trump could. And I hope he’ll consider coming to Washington.”
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