Mike Johnson got 'a huge middle finger' from his own party: analyst

Republicans have sent Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a "huge middle finger" during Trump's second term, and one analyst thinks the trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Before this year, lawmakers on either side of the aisle were hesitant to use discharge petitions as a viable option to pass policies, according to Joe Perticone, a writer for The Bulwark. However, Republican lawmakers have recently used discharge petitions to effectively force the Trump administration to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and a host of other priorities.

Perticone discussed the discharge petitions filed by Republicans in a new column on Tuesday.

"To understand how big a middle finger the discharge petitions are to Mike Johnson, you first must understand that they were vanishingly rare before the current Congress," Perticone wrote, noting that just 4% of discharged petitions filed since 1935 have advanced to the floor for a vote.

"Before this year, discharge petitions succeeded so rarely that they weren’t even taken to be a viable option," he continued. "They typically gain a few signatures from lawmakers in the minority party and then sit in limbo until their eventual expiration."

Perticone added that he expects the trend to continue.

"Capitol Hill staffers I’ve spoken to on both sides of the aisle are predicting that more discharge petitions will make it to the floor in the coming months," Perticone wrote. "And Republicans’ potential attendance problems in the new year ... could make it harder to stop the rebel lawmakers from emerging victorious."

"Provided they can get some of their Democratic colleagues on board with their proposals, dissident Republicans should have an easy path to getting votes on their priorities, whether Johnson wants it or not," he continued.

Read the entire column by clicking here.