Dems hit swing district House Republicans for supporting Mike Johnson’s far-right wish list
A push by new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to stick riders on government funding bills aimed at satisfying far-right constituencies could cost Republicans their House majority in 2024.
According to Politico, Democrats are eyeing several swing districts where Republicans won by slim margins in 2022 and 2020 to focus their efforts on winning back control of the House of Representatives next year. Johnson's insistence on having full floor votes on bills with controversial budget cuts is providing Democrats with plenty of ammunition for attack ads and direct mail campaigns against Republican incumbents in those districts.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), who is the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, said Democrats will use a proposed Amtrak budget cut against Republicans running for re-election in New York and New Jersey "without question."
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"Because how do you deal with a 67 percent cut to Amtrak?" DeLauro said. "Our votes are public, as they should be. And the public needs to know what harm these bills are doing to them."
Other highly partisan budget-related items Johnson is pushing for include a ban on mail-order abortion bills attached to a funding bill for the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, an 80% cut (amounting to roughly $15 billion) to funding for Title I grants that help public schools serve low-income students, funding cuts for Pride flag displays and gender-affirming care and a $1 billion cut to the FBI's budget among others.
"Who's defunding the police now?" Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pennsylvania) said of the proposed cuts to the Department of Justice.
Republicans' majority is razor-thin, meaning Speaker Johnson needs buy-in from virtually every member of his caucus to pass appropriations bills. While members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus refuse to support bills without the controversial riders, other House Republicans in more competitive districts are sensitive to the political implications of going on the record in support of the more contentious items Johnson is pushing for.
READ MORE: 'A non-starter': NY Republicans break with House GOP over proposed cut to Amtrak budget
"These mailers are going out — and these hit ads are going out — based on a first negotiation position," said Rep. Mike Garcia (R-California), who won his last election by a tenth of a point. “[W]hich is probably more conservative than what we’re going to end up with.”
Any funding bill that passes the House will also need to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and won't become law without President Joe Biden's signature, meaning it would be virtually impossible for Johnson to successfully make these proposals come to fruition. Congress has until November 17 to fund the government to avoid a shutdown.
