House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) confidently proclaimed this week Republicans will retain their majority in this year's midterm elections — but as MS NOW congressional reporter Mychael Schnell told anchor Katy Tur, he appears to be the only one in the House Republican caucus who believes it.
"Don't bet against him, Speaker Mike Johnson says, but is he the only one feeling that confident about his party's prospects in November?" said Tur. "The war with Iran, general frustration among the MAGA base, and the president's low approval numbers are all weighing the GOP down. One lawmaker, who requested anonymity, told MS NOW, quote, 'No one thinks we're keeping the majority except for the speaker.'"
"There [were] some choice words used among some Republicans to each other about why they believe they will lose the majority," said Tur, turning to Schnell. "Tell me more about that."
"Yeah, Katy, I was down in Doral, Florida, at the beginning of this week for the House Republican retreat, and the message that we kept hearing from leadership, including Mike Johnson right there in that clip, is that they are confident Republicans are going to retain their majority in the House come the November midterm elections," said Schnell. "I then delved into the House GOP conference to actually ask members if they agreed."
The consensus, she found, is that "leadership is being rosy."
"It really all comes back to the fact that Republicans don't feel like they have enough to run on," said Schnell. "Yes, last year they did pass that sprawling reconciliation bill with tax cuts and a lot of money for the military and other areas as well. It did also include those Medicaid cuts that we spoke so much about that passed last summer. And since then, Republicans have had trouble messaging it, selling it to voters back home and seeing a bump in the polls that they hope they would as a result."
Making matters worse, she continued, "There was a call on March 1st for House Republicans. It was convened right after the strikes on Iran, and it was supposed to talk about foreign policy, but it quickly devolved into a conversation, an airing of grievances, if you will, about midterm strategy and messaging, with Republicans essentially saying they just don't have enough to tout. One comment that was made came from Brandon Gill. He's a conservative from Texas. He essentially said voters view Congress as a bunch of do-nothing idiots, candidly. So there are these frustrations among members that they don't have enough to talk about on the campaign trail."
Ultimately, Schnell said, Republicans see the midterms as "make or break," as a Democratic win of either chamber would shut down any legislative prospects for Trump's agenda and likely guarantee another impeachment.
"Historically speaking, it's always a difficult midterm election in the first cycle of a president's term," said Schnell. "So Republicans are already behind the 8 Ball, but they're saying that with potential headwinds, gas prices, for example, with the war in Iran and just this general feeling that they don't have enough to talk about, that they could be in for a rude awakening come November."