The political centers of both parties are lashing out at the far right and far left, reflecting weariness and anger over the threat to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) from office and his ongoing conflict with the Republican Party. There is growing opposition to the mainstream. Pro-Palestinian protests are taking place on university campuses across the country.
The overwhelming House vote on foreign policy, including funding for Ukraine, is currently facing bipartisan opposition by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who is threatening to disband the leadership race in the House. This resulted in a reprimand for the state.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed his patience with his hardline conservative critics had run thin when he passed the Ukraine funding bill and ignored warnings that he could lose his job.
House Republicans said Tuesday that Greene’s efforts to pressure Johnson are not going well with domestic voters.
In a surprising development, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said he and other Democrats had intervened to defeat a motion by conservatives to vacate Johnson’s position. He announced his support for Johnson.
“I think people are tired of the chaos and the dysfunction. So I congratulate all my friends on both sides of the aisle in the House for actually doing their jobs and not just being a sideshow.” ” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate leadership team.
“Republicans, by and large, are tired of all the antics and chaos and recognize that it’s a political responsibility,” he added.
“The fringe of both parties is reacting very strongly to the political process,” said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist and former member of the House Republican leadership.
He said of Jeffries’ decision to side with Johnson against the conservative rebels at the convention, “Even if he’s from another party, the response from Democratic leaders shows that he’s a leader. can be seen,” he said.
He praised Johnson for putting his job at risk to get the foreign aid package passed in the House of Commons and for standing up to critics at press conferences.
This bold decision was validated by the strong votes its various constituents received from House Republicans, including the 101 Republicans who voted for Ukraine funding.
“I saw the Ukraine vote as a rebellion against norms,” said Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist.
“I feel there is a bipartisan supermajority in both chambers that is tired of having their livelihoods ruined by buying off a tiny minority of the Republican conference,” he said. “None of these people were elected to go to Washington, D.C., and could have their lives turned upside down every day by Marjorie Taylor Greene. The reason they worked so hard to get to Congress and the Senate is That’s not it.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., warned last week that Greene is “undermining our brand.”
“She, not the Democrats, is the biggest risk to regaining a majority,” he told CNN.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York joined protesters on Tuesday who occupied Hamilton Hall, just off Columbia University’s South Lawn, smashing windows and unfurling “Intifada banners.” blamed the person.
“Breaking a window with a hammer or occupying a university building is not free speech. It is an illegal act. And those who do it immediately face consequences that go beyond just a slap on the wrist. We should,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined him, saying the footage of protesters breaking glass showed “Columbia University’s administration has completely, categorically failed to bring order to the Manhattan campus.” “We have provided further evidence that this is the case.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is helping lead the Democratic pushback against pro-Palestinian protesters. The protesters’ rhetoric has taken an anti-Semitic bent, and university campuses have been forced to close for the final weeks of the academic year.
“Protesting is a great American value, but I don’t think living in a pup tent for Hamas is really helpful,” Fetterman said on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”
Fetterman broke with progressives in December by championing “reasonable” border security negotiations and implored Democrats to allow the massive flow of migrants across the southern border.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) also defied criticism from the left and reached a major agreement with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona). , has received praise from centrists. President Biden expanded new emergency powers to close the border.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-Virginia) announced this week that he is sponsoring a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would overturn the Biden administration’s final rule on streamlining the environmental review process to expedite permitting for infrastructure projects.
“Politics has always been about where we win elections and how we govern,” said Jonathan Cotto, a Democratic strategist and former Manchin aide.
“The fringe is where you get Twitter followers and cable news hits,” he says. “When you actually govern responsibly and get elected, the middle ground is the middle ground.”
Mr. Kott said Mr. Fetterman “should be commended for speaking out his opinions and beliefs on very difficult issues and not being held hostage to one side of the ideological spectrum.”
Some Democrats are increasingly concerned that their party could lose support in November if voters associate it with the unrest on college campuses across the country and the border crisis.
“This election will be decided in the middle, not the fringe,” said Jim Kessler, executive vice president of policy at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank.
“John Fetterman was a great guy, not just on campus protests, but on border issues and energy policy,” he said.
Fetterman expressed concern that President Biden’s suspension of natural gas imports could affect jobs in Pennsylvania.
But Mr. Fetterman has been the most outspoken about Israel’s right to defend itself since the Oct. 7 attack.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but blocking bridges and blaming customers at Starbucks is not justice, it just makes you an asshole. Hamas. Demand that all hostages be returned to their home countries and surrendered,” he wrote on social media site
Third Way’s Kessler said Democrats have a lot of work to do in 2024, including major legislation to invest in infrastructure and renewable energy technology, but said far-left pro-Palestinian protesters could spoil the election. I warned you that it’s sexual.
“What’s happening on college campuses is overkill. A lot of it gets media attention,” he said.
“The Biden administration has a lot to promote, including plummeting homicide rates, record gas and oil drilling, and permitting records. They can’t be state secrets. They’re popular with voters. ” he added.
“We’ve seen in the past that something that happens on the left completely destroys Democrats’ electoral chances. Defund the police. Abolish ICE. They’re “We cannot allow the violence on college campuses that hurt Democrats in the past to cause us to do it again,” he warned.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
