Still facing a threat from his own party to oust him from his job, House Speaker Johnson scored some MAGA cred Friday by appearing with former President Donald Trump at a Mar-a-Lago news conference. Trump gave Johnson a vote of confidence, telling reporters that the speaker is “doing a really good job under very tough circumstances” and that the two men have “a very good relationship.”
Trump also called Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene a very good friend of his, but he notably did not endorse her push to oust the speaker. “I think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump said of Johnson. “He’s doing about as good as you’re going to do and I’m sure that Marjorie understands that. She’s a very good friend of mine and I know she has a lot of respect for the speaker.”
In a string of blustery, braggadocious comments, Trump again raised the idea of structuring aid to Ukraine as a loan, and he called on Europe to provide more funding for the war effort before circling back to reiterate his support for Johnson.
Finally passing a FISA bill: The joint appearance by the Republican leaders came after the House earlier in the day passed a bill reauthorizing a controversial part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a modified version of the legislation that 19 Republicans had revolted against on Wednesday. The bill cleared the House Friday in a bipartisan 273-147 vote, delivering the speaker a win after months of struggles to pass the national security legislation. To get it done, Johnson cut back the reauthorization from five years to two, giving hard-right conservatives and the former president — who had urged Republicans to “KILL FISA” — hope that they can revisit the issue and have their objections addressed under a second Trump presidency.
Still, some far-right members of Johnson’s conference were reportedly grumbling about how he had handled the reauthorization. Before the final vote, lawmakers rejected an amendment favored by conservatives that would have required law enforcement to get a warrant to see information on Americans obtained through foreign surveillance programs.
Why it matters: Johnson, who has been speaker for less than six months, is facing his biggest challenge yet as he looks for a path to deliver aid to Ukraine and other allies without losing his job or throwing the House into another period of chaos. While Johnson had indicated he’s preparing to bring up a Ukraine aid bill, it’s not clear yet what that might look like — and House Republican leaders have reportedly made little progress in coming up with an alternative to the Senate’s $95 billion national security package.
