Mike Johnson at Mar-a-Lago: Give and take?

In light of his inability to impose his authority within his group, House Speaker Mike Johnson will head to Mar-a-Lago on Friday to hold a press conference with Donald Trump on the topic of “election integrity.” The two men Must be strengthened Of a bill aimed at preventing non-citizens from voting in federal elections, although non-citizens are already banned from participating in these elections and there is no indication that they are not trying to do so in large numbers. Clearly, the former president should seize the opportunity to air his false claims of election fraud.

But Mike Johnson wants to take something else away from this pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, in this case Donald Trump's support or lack thereof on two issues that divide his group. The first is to revamp Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows US intelligence agencies to access the emails and phone conversations of foreigners. The second is to provide additional military aid to Ukraine.

Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has already threatened Johnson with impeachment if he gets votes on the issues. Nineteen conservative or radical lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday blocked a vote on renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the kind of rebellion that was unthinkable in the past and that has become routine since the start of 2023.

But Politico news site Reports Donald Trump opposes impeaching Johnson, which would add to the Republican chaos in the House of Representatives at a time when the party should be united, according to him. Would he be so opposed to giving free rein to Johnson, who might need Democratic votes to renew Section 720 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and provide additional aid to Ukraine, two of his goals?

This may be what Johnson will try to discover at Mar-a-Lago. If he does not receive guarantees, MTG will likely continue to make decisions in the House of Representatives.

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