Jayapal blasts Johnson, House GOP for lack of action: ‘Same menu, different waiter’

Congressional Progressive Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and House Republicans for their lack of action to pass the bill since taking office.

Washington Democrats criticized Mr. Johnson and House Republicans for their ineffectiveness in Congress this year and the House’s reluctance to pass legislation centered around aid to Ukraine.

“I’ve been saying for over a year now that the Republican Party is broken,” Jayapal said on MSNBC’s “The Weekend” Saturday morning. “There was no one for three weeks,” he said. “The first time Kevin McCarthy said that if one member of the Republican caucus didn’t like what he was doing, he could be removed as chairman, he kind of sold the whole idea of ​​governing.”

Despite House Republicans selecting Johnson in late October, Jayapal doesn’t think the changes will make a big difference in passing the bill in the House.

Congress passed only 31 laws in 2023.

“Now. Just to be clear, we’ve moved in with a new speaker, which means Mike came with me and Chairman Johnson came with me, but the menu is the same. Waiters are different,” Jayapal said.

He added that Johnson faces the same problem as former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who could mount a motion if the Ukraine aid package is brought to the full House floor. He added that he would lose his chairmanship with the MP. He was deposed using the same ploy that usurped McCarthy’s position.

“he [Johnson] “We’re dealing with the same issues that the Republican conference has always had,” Jayapal said. “And he’s in a situation where there are quite a few Republicans, I think in the past, about 100 who have voted against aid to Ukraine, and he can’t bring this up. “Unless he accepts support from the Democratic Party, we will oust him as chairman.” ”

House leaders said earlier this month that the $95 billion aid package passed by the Senate for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan was “dead on arrival.”

Johnson vetoed the bill because it did not include adjustments to immigration policy, while House Republicans scrapped the bipartisan Senate border deal that took months to negotiate.

“So I think this is a real challenge for us in a time when we desperately need a functioning Congress and the Republican Party continues to be bankrupt,” Jayapal said.