Other than partisan hacks, nobody in the Gret Stet is saying that Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise are “good for Louisiana” as the old local media cliche goes. The House over which they presided has made the infamous Do-Nothing Congress of 1948 look hyperactive. That was also a good year for Democrats.
Mike Johnson has once again sent the House home when he seemed on the verge of losing a vote to renegade MAGA GOPer Thomas Massie. Ideologues are usually procedurally hapless but not Massie: He knows how to use House rules. In a measure headed straight to the House floor, Massie has called for the impeachment of fake war secretary Pete Hegseth. Massie believes that Johnson did a whip count showing the Hegseth impeachment winning. Speaker Yellowbelly then showed his true colors:
Speaker Yellowbelly did the same thing with the Massie-Khanna Epstein Files Transparency Act last summer. That cowardly maneuver failed and Johnson hid under the bed during the recess; terrified of a Trump tantrum.
Shutting the House down like a dirty eatery on Kitchen Nightmares is bad politics that will remind voters of how little the Johnson-Scalise led chamber has done.
How about some stats:
- The House has been in session 72 days out of a possible 264.
- The House has only voted on 65 days.
- The House has only passed 36 major laws this year.
In a word: Disgraceful.
More stats from MS NOW’s Michael A. Cohen, not to be confused with Trump’s former fixer:
The 119th is on pace to pass fewer laws than any Congress since the Civil War. Even the infamous Do-Nothing Congress of 1947-1948 enacted more than 900 laws. Johnson has canceled 63 scheduled voting days. Through Aug. 31, the House was in session for 383 hours — an average of 48 hours per month. By comparison, the onerous Medicaid work requirements Republicans enacted in 2025 asked recipients to work 80 hours per month.”
Speaker Yellowbelly got on his hind legs in Dallas and claimed the GOP wouldn’t let Democrats take control of the House next January. After making this brave claim, he sent the House into recess and hid under the bed; terrified of a Trump tantrum.
Retired federal Judge Michael Luttig is a hardcore never Trump Republican. He has written of his concern that Johnson might try some jiggery-pokery on January 3rd and refuse to seat Democratic members. Luttig calls this the next coup attempt. While it’s something to watch for, it was tried and failed twice during the Civil War. Thwarting such a coup attempt would only require a handful of GOPers to vote with Democrats. Given the scope of the looming blue wave, I doubt that Johnson has the balls to even try it. He’d have to get out from under the bed to do so.
I saw Judge Luttig on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show. He undermined his coup warning when he said, “Trump has been planning this for 18 months.”
Say what? Donald Trump doesn’t plan anything for 18 hours let alone months. Winging it is his jam. Failure is his forte. Any MAGA Republican attempt to hold the house on 1/3/27 will fail.
Repeat after me: It’s the incompetence, stupid.
This Congress has been among the worst in American history. They’ve allowed a rogue president to get away with an unprecedented level of corruption. The House Oversight Committee is supposed to be the public’s watch dog against executive branch excesses. This dog has neither barked nor bestirred itself from the national porch. They’ve rolled over in hopes of a presidential belly rub; terrified of a Trump tantrum.
The Oversight Committee should react like a cat when their belly is touched and BITE. It’s time for Congress to bite back. It can only do so with a Democratic majority that will send Mike Johnson back under the bed and out of power.
The last word goes to 10cc:
Here’s some seasonal lagniappe:
