As President Donald Trump continues to wield near-unchallenged influence over House Republicans, he’s reportedly joked behind the scenes about effectively holding the position of president and House speaker, two insiders revealed to The New York Times in its report Saturday.
“I’m the speaker and the president,” Trump said jokingly, according to two insiders who spoke with the Times on the condition of anonymity.
As of Saturday, the House has been in recess for 25 days, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refusing to reconvene the chamber until the Senate adopts a spending bill to fund the government and end the shutdown. The dispute centers on health care subsidies set to expire this year: Republicans have refused to extend them, while Democrats have resisted supporting any spending bill that omits an extension.
Trump has voiced opposition to extending the subsidies to resolve the government shutdown, a position that Johnson has supported in refusing to budge on the issue, and despite growing divisions among Republican lawmakers on the issue.
And it’s Johnson’s dedication to supporting Trump’s wishes, argued Times reporter Annie Karni in an analysis published Saturday, that could ultimately weaken the position of House speaker in years to come.
“[Johnson’s] approach [is one] born of political expedience that could have far-reaching consequences for an institution that has already ceded much of its power to President Trump,” Karni wrote.