SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY

Search headlines

Find the stories shaping the conversation.

Search mode
Refine results
Active filters Keyword All time

Results for " mike johnson " 142 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle

Mike Johnson Says He'll Start Louisiana Lawn Business With 'Fervor' If GOP Loses Midterms; Team Calls Speculation 'Hilarious'

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has suggested he could leave politics if Republicans lose control of the House in November’s midterm elections, prompting speculation about his future that his spoke...

yahoo.com logo
Oct 11 • 9:30 PM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson expected at Ralph Alvarado fundraiser in Lexington

The new attention follows election forecasters declaring that the race in central Kentucky's congressional district is no longer a cakewalk for the GOP.

spectrumnews1.com logo
Oct 8 • 5:07 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumnews1.com
Speaker Johnson Floats Leaving Politics to Start ‘Lawn Business’ If GOP Loses House

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) floated an unexpected career change if Republicans lose their House majority in next month’s midterm elections, saying he would be willing to leave politics behind and start a lawn business in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana.

mediaite.com logo
Oct 8 • 4:51 PM EDT • Business • mediaite.com
Speaker Johnson Floats Leaving Politics to Start ‘Lawn Business’ If GOP Loses House

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) floated an unexpected career change if Republicans lose their House majority in next month’s midterm elections, saying he would be willing to leave politics behind and start a lawn business in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana.

mediaite.com logo
Oct 8 • 4:51 PM EDT • Politics • mediaite.com
Johnson unsure on ‘next chapter’ if Republicans lose majority

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) cast doubt on his future in GOP leadership for the first time Thursday, saying he is unsure “what my next chapter of life is” if Republicans lose the House majority. “If God moves on our hearts and says we should, you know, go back to my hometown of Shreveport and […]

coloradopolitics.com logo
Oct 8 • 4:45 PM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com
Jim Phillips: ACC does not have ‘unanimity’ on Protect College Sports Act

With the Protect College Sports Act heading to the House of Representatives, the ACC has become a key part of the conversation. Four school presidents from the conference penned a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) requesting changes to the conference realignment provision last week. Speaking at ACC Tipoff on Tuesday, commissioner Jim Phillips […]

sports.yahoo.com logo
Oct 6 • 9:40 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Can House Democrats stay unified next year? It may be up to one man

Internal divisions have dragged House Speaker Mike Johnson down for months. On the verge of power, can Hakeem Jeffries avoid the same fate?

usatoday.com logo
Oct 3 • 3:00 AM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
Clemson president among those asking for adjustments to Protect College Sports Act

SPARTANBURG, SC(WSPA)–Clemson president Ben Ayers was among four ACC presidents to sign a letter addressed to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson asking for adjustments to the Protect College Sports Act now before his body, the website Tomahawk Nation reported Friday night. The letter advocates changing expansion language in the PCSA bill that passed the senate […]

sports.yahoo.com logo
Oct 3 • 2:28 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
US Speaker Mike Johnson attends Calvary football game

Speaker Mike Johnson surprised fans at a Louisiana high school football game to watch Calvary Baptist play.

sports.yahoo.com logo
Oct 2 • 10:59 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
House Speaker Johnson stumping for CA GOP congressional candidates

House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to visit California on Wednesday to stump and fundraise for Republican candidates in a state that could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives during President Trump's final two years in office.

latimes.com logo
Sep 30 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • latimes.com
Mike Johnson, Bernie Sanders to campaign in Central Valley for 22nd District race

The dueling visits come as Rep. David Valadao and challenger Randy Villegas face off in one of the country’s most competitive congressional races.

sacbee.com logo
Sep 29 • 8:09 PM EDT • Politics • sacbee.com
In Mike Johnson's district, the political mood is mixed for the GOP

Johnson is an ally of President Donald Trump and is in no apparent danger of securing a sixth term in Congress. But high prices, the war in Iran and the dim economic mood provide a snapshot of the grim outlook for the party in power.

pbs.org logo
Sep 28 • 1:58 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org
Speaker Mike Johnson on Trump-Xi agreements, AI regulation

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson joins FOX Business to discuss President Donald Trump's agreements with Xi Jinping. He also outlines his upcoming meeting with tech CEOs on AI oversight and analyzes a new Fox News Poll on the cost of living.

foxbusiness.com logo
Sep 28 • 9:48 AM EDT • Business • foxbusiness.com
In GOP Speaker Mike Johnson's district, the political mood is mixed for the party in power

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — The GOP's “Big Beautiful Bill” is rolling out in different ways across U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s home district — from steakhouse servers getting a tax break on tips to a community center where people line up for a free hot lunch as SNAP benefits are being cut.

wral.com logo
Sep 28 • 7:28 AM EDT • Politics • wral.com
In Speaker Mike Johnson's district, the political mood is mixed

Legislation the GOP called its “Big Beautiful Bill” is rolling out different ways in Speaker Mike Johnson’s home district.

apnews.com logo
Sep 28 • 7:27 AM EDT • Politics • apnews.com
High-Signal Publisher
In GOP Speaker Mike Johnson's district, the political mood is mixed for the party in power

Legislation the GOP called its “Big Beautiful Bill” is rolling out different ways in Speaker Mike Johnson’s home district. Steakhouse servers are getting a tax break on their tips, but there's a...

sfchronicle.com logo
Sep 28 • 7:27 AM EDT • Politics • sfchronicle.com
In GOP Speaker Mike Johnson's district, the political mood is mixed for the party in power

Legislation the GOP called its “Big Beautiful Bill” is rolling out different ways in Speaker Mike Johnson’s home district.

In GOP Speaker Mike Johnson's district, the political mood is mixed for the party in power

Legislation the GOP called its “Big Beautiful Bill” is rolling out different ways in Speaker Mike Johnson’s home district.

clickondetroit.com logo
Sep 28 • 7:27 AM EDT • Politics • clickondetroit.com
In GOP Speaker Mike Johnson's district, the political mood is mixed for the party in power

The GOP's “Big Beautiful Bill” is rolling out in different ways across U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s home district — from steakhouse servers getting a tax break on tips to a community center where...

yahoo.com logo
Sep 28 • 7:27 AM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com
In GOP Speaker Mike Johnson's district, the political mood is mixed for the party in power

Legislation the GOP called its “Big Beautiful Bill” is rolling out different ways in Speaker Mike Johnson’s home district.

clickorlando.com logo
Sep 28 • 7:27 AM EDT • Politics • clickorlando.com
Trump and Johnson meeting with AI executives set for Tuesday

President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will meet with executives of top AI companies at the White House on Tuesday, the Washington Examiner confirmed. The expected meeting underscores the pressure Republicans are under to regulate the industry ahead of the November midterm elections. Johnson has rejected calls to act quickly on regulating AI models, […]

coloradopolitics.com logo
Sep 25 • 1:46 PM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (9%)
wow
100%
Political science professors weigh in on U.S. House recess

On Sept. 16, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson recessed the House of Representatives a day earlier than scheduled. He sent members of Congress home to their districts before the midterm elections. This decision came following Rep. Thomas Massie’s introduction of articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, primarily related to military action...

iowastatedaily.com logo
Sep 25 • 1:09 AM EDT • Science • iowastatedaily.com
😐 Neutral (28%)
love
100%
Speaker Johnson recesses the House early as Rep. Thomas Massie pushes Hegseth impeachment

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson is closing up the House early, sending lawmakers home Wednesday to campaign for the midterm elections after what he claim

wtop.com logo
Sep 16 • 5:28 PM EDT • Politics • wtop.com
Speaker Johnson sending House home early, staving off Hegseth impeachment vote over Iran war

Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday announced he is sending members home from Washington early for their seven-week campaigning recess ahead of the midterm elections, a move that will stave off a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

cnn.com logo
Sep 16 • 11:58 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Johnson on AI: US must maintain ‘our edge’

CNN’s Manu Raju asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) on Monday about the president’s remarks on Truth Social that suggest there should be no guardrails other than himself. Johnson said that the topic will be addressed in an upcoming meeting with AI executives.

cnn.com logo
Sep 14 • 4:14 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Trump’s $5,000 dividend requires congressional approval, Mike Johnson says

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) argued that President Donald Trump’s controversial $5,000 dividend proposal requires congressional approval, though he shied away from overt criticism of the measure. Trump’s promise to divvy out $5,000 to every U.S. citizen at the Republicans’ midterm convention last week sent shockwaves around the country and within the Republican Party. Johnson […]

coloradopolitics.com logo
Sep 14 • 12:44 PM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com
WATCH LIVE: House meets as pressure to regulate AI grows

House Speaker Mike Johnson says it’s time for President Donald Trump to “summon everyone together” and take the lead addressing questions about AI at the White House, rather than Congress.

pbs.org logo
Sep 14 • 10:29 AM EDT • Politics • pbs.org
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump’s $5,000 ‘dividend’ needs congressional approval

President Donald Trump's proposal to send $5,000 to every American adult if his Republican Party maintains control of the House and Senate in the November election needs congressional approval, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday.

wtop.com logo
Sep 13 • 3:53 PM EDT • Politics • wtop.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump’s $5,000 ‘dividend’ needs congressional approval

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's proposal to send $5,000 to every American adult if his Republican Party maintains control of the House and Senate in

wtop.com logo
Sep 13 • 3:36 PM EDT • Politics • wtop.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump's $5,000 'dividend' needs congressional approval

Trump made the unusual pitch at the party's midterm convention in Dallas last week, promising a “Trump Dividend” if voters keep the GOP in power on Capitol Hill.

pbs.org logo
Sep 13 • 3:36 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump's $5,000 'dividend' needs congressional approval

House Speaker Mike Johnson says Congress would have to approve President Donald Trump's proposal to send $5,000 to each American adult if the Republican Party maintains control of the House

kdhnews.com logo
Sep 13 • 2:45 PM EDT • Politics • kdhnews.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump's $5,000 'dividend' needs congressional approval

House Speaker Mike Johnson says Congress would have to approve President Donald Trump's proposal to send $5,000 to each American adult if the Republican Party maintains control of the House and Senate in the November election.

ksat.com logo
Sep 13 • 2:45 PM EDT • Politics • ksat.com
Political debate over AI intensifies amid warnings about ‘catastrophic risk’

(CNN) — The debate around artificial intelligence is ramping up in Washington, with Democratic lawmakers sounding alarms on the dangers they say the technology poses and Republican leaders suggesting those concerns are inflated and secondary to winning the AI race with China.Some Democratic lawmakers last week pressured House Speaker Mike Johnson to reconvene the chamber immediately to work on AI regulation, citing what they describe as the “catastrophic risk posed by advanced artificial intelligence.” But the Louisiana Republican on Sunday resisted those calls, instead saying industry leaders should meet with lawmakers to find “balance” in any potential guardrails.“If Congress just races in and does some sort of emergency session to try to regulate AI, we will lose the race to China, and that is a threat to every single American,” Johnson said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama told Democrats to make artificial intelligence regulation a central part of their agenda during a private fundraiser Thursday, warning that the technology could be dangerous “if we don’t get on top of it.”In a fireside chat with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Obama said whoever runs in the 2028 presidential election should have a “very clear plan” on AI, adding that he saw the need for a “blueprint” on AI guardrails even at the end of his presidency a decade ago.“Certainly, if I were running for president next year, this would be one of my central agendas, and I would have a very clear plan, and I would talk about this, and I would say, ‘Here’s our plan for safety, here’s our plan for making sure our kids are not corrupted by this,’” he said, per excerpts of the remarks provided to CNN by his office. Obama’s remarks were first reported by the New York Times.Concerns over the rapid acceleration of AI reached a fever pitch after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in a 3,800-word essay Saturday that the race to develop artificial intelligence is in dire need of a slowdown. The call to action came after an OpenAI test model breached the Hugging Face online platform, deepening concerns about cybersecurity.In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Saturday, Amodei called on industry leaders to work together to avoid “the wrong paths” and the possibility of AI harming humanity.One Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, resigned from the firm over worries that the industry wasn’t doing enough to prevent AI from destroying humanity by the end of the decade.Obama said Democrats need a plan to get their agenda on AI underway should they win the House majority in this year’s midterms.Speaking to Jeffries, who is presumed to be speaker of the House should Democrats prevail in November, Obama said, “Once you are speaker, I would strongly urge that the Democrats put together a framework for a very public conversation, and you can break it out into three or four or five issues.”Obama stressed that the framework should be centered on the reality that the technology can’t be stuffed “back into a box.”“This is something that is moving very fast in private hands, and if we don’t get on top of it, I think can be dangerous. If we do get on top of it, I do think it’s beneficial,” Obama said, laying out examples of AI’s potential use in drug development and finding pathways to a clean energy future.“We don’t want to shut off those opportunities, but we have to understand that this is a tool,” he said.Jeffries agreed with the former president in a statement provided to CNN on Sunday.“President Obama is correct that decisive action must be taken on Artificial Intelligence,” he said, adding, “In the majority, we will move urgently on this issue with a legislative response that recognizes the importance of American companies continuing to lead in the Artificial Intelligence area, while putting in place meaningful guardrails that protect the American people from bad actors and the very real damage that can be done to humanity.”Jeffries also accused Republicans of having “abdicated their responsibility to govern” and said Democrats “will not repeat their error.”A source familiar with Obama’s thinking said the former president sees Amodei’s letter and similar reaction from other tech moguls as an encouraging development.But President Donald Trump waved off their concerns, saying he is not worried about any existential threat posed by AI, focusing instead on the US winning in its development of the technology over China.“We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to keep it that way,” Trump said to reporters at the Amgen Irish Open on Sunday.About the concerns expressed by Democrats and others over the technology, the president said, “I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”One of Trump’s top economic advisers, Kevin Hassett, also rejected the calls for slowing the technology down, saying on Sunday the bigger concern is a scenario in which a “malevolent actor has access to an AI that’s better than the one we have that can protect us.”Hassett, the National Economic Council director, said on “State of the Union” the White House may hold meetings this week about addressing Amodei’s concerns, but he did not specify whether Trump had floated greater safeguards.“I have concerns that if we don’t win AI, we’re going to be put in a very bad position,” Hassett said. “We are leading China right now.”CNN’s Alison Main and Molly English contributed to this report.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.​THE-CNN-WIRE (TM) & © 2026 CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., A TIME WARNER COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

applevalleynewsnow.com logo
Sep 13 • 1:22 PM EDT • Politics • applevalleynewsnow.com
House Democrats urge Speaker Johnson to cancel recess to pass AI safeguards, citing ‘catastrophic’ risk

(CNN) — A group of House Democratic lawmakers is pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson to reconvene the chamber immediately and cancel an upcoming break to address what they describe as the

wxow.com logo
Sep 13 • 1:00 PM EDT • Politics • wxow.com
Top Lawmakers Agree A.I.’s Risks Are Rising but Say They Have No Quick Fix

House Speaker Mike Johnson warned on Sunday of competitive risks from China, and Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader, said Congress should start regulatory talks this week.

nytimes.com logo
Sep 13 • 11:39 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
As crucial mid-terms approach, Republicans lean into attacks on ‘communist’ Democrats

WASHINGTON – Speaker of the House Mike Johnson spent the first five minutes of his Thursday night speech at a rare midterm convention of the party faithful reaching back to

nola.com logo
Sep 12 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • nola.com
Fact check: Trump, RFK Jr. and others make false claims on night 2 of GOP convention

(CNN) — President Donald Trump delivered another rapid-fire series of false claims on the second night of Republicans’ midterm convention on Thursday. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did his own barrage of wrongness. And various other speakers uttered statements that were untrue, misleading or missing critical context.Here is a fact check of some of the assertions from the final day of the convention. This is not intended as a comprehensive list of Thursday’s falsehoods.Trump’s many false claimsTrump made numerous false claims, some of which he also made in his longer speech Wednesday.Trump claimed that there were “no empty seats” in the Dallas arena as he spoke Thursday, which was visibly untrue. CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene, who was there, wrote in a live chat right after Trump made the claim that “I’m looking at rows of empty seats” and that “the idea that there are ‘no empty seats’ is just laughably untrue,” though she also said the room was mostly full. Trump has for years made false claims about supposedly never having had an empty seat.Trump further inflated one of his favorite fictional figures, claiming Thursday that “$22 trillion” in investment has come into the US; on Wednesday, he had put it at “over $20 trillion,” and even that lower figure has no apparent basis in reality. As of the time he spoke Thursday, the White House’s own website claimed there had been “$11.2 trillion” in “major investment announcements” this term, not “over $20 trillion,” and the White House figure was itself a major exaggeration of actual investment.Trump, talking about elections, lied that “there’s never been bigger cheaters” than Democrats; there is no basis for broadly describing Democrats as election cheaters. For the second straight night, Trump falsely claimed that the Biden administration allowed “25 million people” to pour into the country, though that number is nowhere close to correct. Trump again falsely claimed that former President Joe Biden and other Democrats “created the worst inflation in American history,” though even peak Biden-era inflation, 9.1% in June 2022, was far from the all-time record of 23.7%; it was a 40-year high, but the rate then fell sharply before Trump returned to office.Trump also baselessly claimed that Democrats would “defund the police” and give “voting rights and welfare to 25 million illegal aliens” if they won the midterms. Republicans will still control the White House in 2027 and 2028 and the president would be in position to veto any such changes if a Democratic-controlled Congress sought to make them, but there is no indication that Democrats want to do so. Also, even groups favoring strict immigration policies estimate that the total undocumented population is far less than “25 million” or even 20 million.As he did Wednesday, Trump claimed the US now has the world’s lowest prescription drug prices. The assertion is so broad that it is unclear what exactly Trump is referencing. But experts told CNN they highly doubt that the prices for brand-name drugs in the US are generally less than they are in other countries, and the Trump administration has not provided details to prove the claim.“It’s tough to claim that you’re getting the lowest prices anywhere in the world and then also not have any evidence to support that,” said Andrew Mulcahy, a senior health economist at RAND, while Diederik Stadig, senior healthcare economist at financial institution ING, said, “To say that the US now has the lowest drug prices in the world is at this moment not true.”And as he did Wednesday, Trump said “more Americans are working today than ever before” – which is true but nearly meaningless, since the number of people working in the US generally rises over time simply because the population rises over time.“There are more Americans working because there are more Americans. That’s the entire analysis,” Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan professor of public policy and economics, wrote in his newsletter in August.RFK Jr.’s false claims on the pandemic, Trump’s record and moreFalse claim about Democrats and the 2024 electionKennedy unsuccessfully ran for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination before withdrawing to run as an independent and then eventually endorsing Republican candidate Donald Trump. In Kennedy’s Thursday convention speech, he complained of how the Democrats handled the nomination race.At one point, he said, “For the first time in history, they cancelled their own convention. No voter ever cast a primary ballot for Kamala Harris, no elected delegate was ever consulted; the party of ‘No Kings’ simply anointed a queen.”Kennedy is entitled to express unhappiness about how quickly Democratic leaders coalesced around then-Vice President Harris after Biden unexpectedly dropped out of the race in July 2024, after the primaries were over and less than four months from Election Day. But it’s not true that the party canceled its convention or that delegates didn’t get any say.The convention was held; it was a four-day event in Chicago in August 2024. Democratic convention delegates officially nominated Harris in a virtual roll call vote in advance of the convention. It’s true that Harris was the only candidate on the roll call ballot, but that’s because she was the only candidate who gathered enough delegate signatures to appear on the ballot.It’s clear that party elites’ backing of Harris played a key role in the unusual nomination process. But Kennedy’s specific allegations that the convention was abandoned and delegates were cut out of the process are not true.False claim that Democrats closed ‘every church’ during the Covid-19 pandemicWhile attacking Democrats, Kennedy claimed that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, “They closed every church in our country for a year.”It’s not true that every church in the country was closed for a year, nor even that every church in a Democratic state was closed for a year.Every state issued some type of guidance or order about social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic, but many states – including some led by Democrats and some led by Republicans – incorporated religious exemptions into those limitations on social interactions.According to a Pew Research Center analysis from April 2020, 15 states allowed religious gatherings to continue without a limit on their size. That set of states included Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which all had Democratic governors. And at least two states with Republican governors, Alaska and Idaho, were among the states that prohibited religious gatherings at least briefly.False claim that Trump ‘ended nine wars’Trump has repeatedly claimed that he has ended “eight wars.” Kennedy went one higher on Thursday, declaring, “President Trump has ended nine wars.”That’s false. Trump hasn’t even ended eight wars.Trump’s list of eight includes two situations that were never actually wars during his tenure: a diplomatic dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia and a mysterious supposed situation between Serbia and Kosovo. The list also includes a war, involving Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, that hasn’t actually ended despite a peace agreement brokered by the Trump administration.In addition, the list includes the war between Israel and Hamas, but Israel continues to conduct frequent attacks in Gaza despite a US-brokered ceasefire agreement. And it includes the brief 2025 conflict between Israel and Iran, though Israel proceeded to join the US in starting another war against Iran in 2026.Claim about reversing a decline in longevityKennedy speaking of the Trump administration, claimed Thursday: “We have now reversed a 30-year decline in longevity. “Kennedy referenced preliminary data that he said he had received from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, but it’s unclear what metric of longevity he’s referring to.CDC data shows that US life expectancy had been steadily increasing for decades before a sharp drop during the Covid-19 pandemic. Life expectancy had already started to rebound in 2022, under the Biden administration, and reached a new record high in 2024 before Trump’s second term began.Preliminary data shared by the CDC in July suggests that life expectancy probably hit another record high in 2025.CNN has reached out to HHS for clarification on Kennedy’s comments.Claim that Democrats ‘lost 360,000 children’Speaking about Democrats, Kennedy said: “They somehow lost 360,000 children and they turned our federal government into the biggest child trafficking operation in world history.”Trump and other Republicans have made similar claims. But there’s no basis for the assertion that Democrats “lost” so many children or that the federal government was engaged in human trafficking.A 2024 report from the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement had reported that more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children failed to appear as scheduled for immigration court hearings after being released or transferred out of custody between fiscal years 2019 and 2023 – a period that, notably, includes two years and four months under the first Trump administration. The report also said that 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children during this period were not given notices to appear in court.The report said that ICE had “no assurances” these children “are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.” But it did not say all the children were actually “lost” and did not definitively assert that any of them were trafficked – let alone that the government was somehow involved in a trafficking operation. And, again, the report spanned parts of both a Republican administration and a Democratic administration.Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told CNN in 2024: “Long story short, no, there are not 320,000 kids missing. 32,000 kids missed court. That doesn’t mean they’re missing, it means they missed court (either because their sponsor didn’t bring them or they are teenagers who didn’t want to show up). The remaining 291,000 cases mentioned by the (Office of the Inspector General) are cases where ICE hasn’t filed the paperwork to start their immigration court cases.”Vance on inflation, crime and taxes on Social SecurityA false claim about the media and Biden-era inflationVice President JD Vance mocked the media during part of his speech on Thursday. But he made a false claim about Biden-era inflation while lampooning how the media supposedly challenged him over another false claim on that subject.Vance said: “The president and I would go during a campaign, we’d say, ‘You know, inflation is as high as it’s been in 100 years,’ and the fake news would say, ‘No, no, no, it’s as high as it’s been in 68 years.’ That ain’t good, ladies and gentlemen.”Mainstream journalists, at least, wouldn’t say that inflation under Biden was as high as it had been “in 68 years.” Rather, CNN and others noted that peak inflation under the Biden administration, 9.1% in June 2022, was the highest in about 40 years.Vance is entitled to make his general point that this correction still doesn’t make Biden-era inflation sound good, but his specific number was, again, wrong. And he didn’t acknowledge that inflation fell sharply under Biden after hitting the 40-year high, declining to 2.9% in Biden’s last full month in office, December 2024, and 3.0% in January 2025, when Trump and Vance were inaugurated.The rate was 3.4% in July 2026, the most recent month for which data is available.Trump didn’t end taxes on Social SecurityVance claimed, “We’ve ended taxes on Social Security.” Several other convention speakers, including Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania and Ohio House candidate Derek Merrin, similarly said the administration has achieved “no tax on Social Security.”It hasn’t. The big domestic policy bill Trump signed in 2025 did create an additional, temporary $6,000-per-year tax deduction for individuals age 65 and older (which phases out for individuals earning $75,000 per year or more), but as the White House has implicitly acknowledged, millions of Social Security recipients will continue to pay taxes on their benefits even before the temporary new deduction expires after 2028.The Social Security Administration said in 2025 that “the bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits.Claim about violent crime rate under BidenWhile criticizing the Biden administration, Vice President JD Vance claimed Thursday that the US “became a country where violent crime exploded, unless, of course, you could afford private security.”But violent crime did not explode under Biden. In fact, as FactCheck.org reported last month, data collected and published by the FBI shows that the national violent crime rate was at a lower level in 2023 and 2024, the last two full calendar years of Biden’s term, than it was in 2020, the last full calendar year of Trump’s first term. The year 2020 was highly unusual in many ways – violent crime jumped amid the Covid-19 pandemic – but Biden nonetheless left office with violent crime lower than it was when he took over. In fact, the 2024 violent crime rate was even lower than the 2019 rate under Trump before the pandemic.There was an increase in violent crime during the earlier part of Biden’s term. But given the subsequent decline, it’s misleading at best to claim violent crime “exploded” with no further context.Asked earlier this month about Trump’s similar previous claims to have reversed a Biden-era upswing in violence, crime data expert Jeff Asher said in an email: “No, crime began dropping significantly in 2023 during the Biden administration. Murder fell at record rates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 and, while 2026 may not feature a record decline nationally, it is still on track to see a sizable double-digit decline this year. Violent crime similarly fell nationally in 2023 and 2024, though the drops were more muted than the decline that was recorded by the FBI in 2025.”Other GOP speakersMike Johnson’s false claim about the inflation Republicans inherited from BidenSome other speakers at the convention took aim at inflation under Biden. House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed that “Republicans inherited from the Biden administration record-high inflation.”That’s not true. The inflation rate was 2.9% in Biden’s last full month in office, December 2024, and 3.0% in January 2025, when Trump took over. That’s lower than the most recent rate, 3.4% in July 2026, and nowhere close to the all-time record of 23.7%, which was reached in 1920, or the highest point of Jimmy Carter’s presidency, 14.8%, which was reached in 1980.Johnson correctly said moments later that inflation reached “a 40-year high of 9.1% inflation” under Biden. But a 40-year high is not an all-time record. More importantly, Johnson didn’t explain that 9.1% was much higher than the rate Trump inherited or that the 9.1% rate occurred in June 2022, with roughly two-and-a-half years left in Biden’s term.The cumulative increase in prices from the beginning of the Biden administration to the end was also not the highest in US history. Federal figures show that beginning-to-end inflation under Biden was less than half of that during Carter’s term.What Johnson left out of his claim about a congressional resolutionWhile attacking Democrats as extreme, Johnson said: “Just last week, nearly every Democrat in the House of Representatives voted against condemning socialism and Marxism. They voted against it.”But the resolution didn’t use the word “Marxism.” And Johnson didn’t mention that the resolution wasn’t only about condemning socialism. Rather, it contained other language that Democratic leadership said was the focus of the party’s opposition to the resolution.The resolution’s first provision said it “condemns and denounces socialism in all its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America, and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States.” But its fifth provision said it “calls for enactment of the SAVE America Act,” Trump’s favored elections bill, which contains various provisions opposed by many Democrats.So while it’s very possible many Democrats would have opposed the resolution even without its expression of support for the SAVE America Act, the call to pass this elections bill served as a poison pill that ensured most Democrats wouldn’t support it.“House Resolution 1490 explicitly calls for enactment of the so-called SAVE America Act, which is the top legislative priority of far-right extremists,” Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement last week.A New Mexico candidate left out key context in an attack on his opponentGreg Cunningham, a Republican House candidate in New Mexico, used some of his Thursday speech to criticize his Democratic opponent, Rep. Gabe Vasquez. Cunningham said of Vasquez: “He even voted against a resolution honoring the sacrifices and service of the brave men and women in law enforcement who protect, every day, our communities.”But Cunningham left out important context about the resolution. While its focus was expressing support for law enforcement, its preamble contained statements praising the Trump administration and criticizing “leftist activists,” “progressive politicians” and “sanctuary city policies” for allegedly making law enforcement less safe.In other words, a House member might vote against such a resolution, as the vast majority of Democrats did, because they disagreed with conservative components of it, not the general expressions of support for law enforcement. (CNN has reached out to Vasquez’s campaign and House office for comment on his vote.) It’s common for parties to write resolutions in a way that would make it difficult for opponents to support but would open those opponents to campaign attacks if they voted “no.”An Ohio candidate’s misleading attack about Democrats and votingMerrin, the Republican candidate running against Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur for a House seat in Ohio, claimed in his speech, “While Democrats talk about letting illegal immigrants vote in our election, Republicans fight for proof of citizenship, photo ID and fair elections.”It’s a big country, so it’s possible some Democrat somewhere is talking about letting undocumented people vote in some election. But Merrin’s claim is misleading at best. There is no proposal from Democrats in Congress to let undocumented people vote in the 2026 midterms – the election Merrin appeared to be referring to when he said “our election” – or vote in future federal elections.CNN has reached out to Merrin’s campaign for an explanation of his claim.House Majority Leader Steve Scalise invoked a similar theme in his speech Wednesday, claiming that Democrats had voted last week “to allow illegals to vote in our federal elections.” But there was no congressional vote on letting undocumented immigrants vote in any elections.Rather, there was a vote on the non-binding Republican resolution that included multiple provisions, including one that “reiterates the notion that American elections are for American citizens only,” one supporting Trump’s favored elections bill and one denouncing socialism.Opposing that multi-clause resolution doesn’t necessarily mean someone supports voting by any non-citizens, let alone non-citizens in the country illegally.This article has been updated with additional items.CNN’s Deja Oliver contributed to this report.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

applevalleynewsnow.com logo
Sep 10 • 9:46 PM EDT • Politics • applevalleynewsnow.com
Mike Johnson presses Democrats on court-packing: ‘Put their money where their mouth is’

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered a vote on packing the U.S. Supreme Court that was doomed from the get-go but aimed at getting Democrats on the record for

nola.com logo
Sep 5 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • nola.com
Two Democrats bail out Speaker Mike Johnson after he faces internal revolt

Speaker Mike Johnson nearly lost control of the House floor — again — because of a group of disgruntled conservatives.

cnn.com logo
Sep 1 • 4:58 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
The 21 seats Mike Johnson says will decide the House majority

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, is eyeing 21 seats that will determine the House majority in the November midterm elections, including Colorado’s Congressional District 8. Johnson pointed to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report’s 21 toss-up seats, before rattling off a list of the races he is watching particularly closely. “Those 21 or so seats that are […]

coloradopolitics.com logo
Sep 1 • 3:39 PM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com
Johnson quells House GOP rebellion to advance anti-socialism resolution

A group of House Republicans threatened to upend Speaker Mike Johnson's plans this week in protest of his handling of federal spending.

foxnews.com logo
Sep 1 • 12:12 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com
House to vote on stopgap funding bill as lawmakers scramble to avoid government shutdown

Speaker Mike Johnson to launch a floor vote designed to prevent any federal shutdown before the November midterms

theguardian.com logo
Sep 1 • 5:54 AM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com
Zach Werenski Should Be Blue Jackets Captain, Says NHL Analyst

NHL analyst Mike Johnson says that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski should be named the team captain.Former Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner recently signed a free-agent contract with the Washington Capitals, leaving Columbus without a captain for this coming season.But according to Johnson, this is an easy call for the franchise to make in […] The post Zach Werenski Should Be Blue Jackets Captain, Says NHL Analyst appeared first on HEAVY.

sports.yahoo.com logo
Aug 27 • 5:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson headed to New Mexico to campaign for Greg Cunningham against Gabe Vasquez

House Speaker Mike Johnson is headed to New Mexico on Tuesday to campaign with Greg Cunningham, the Republican candidate looking to oust Democratic Congressman Gabe Vasquez in the sprawling Second Congressional District covering Southern New Mexico and Albuquerque’s Westside. This story was originally published at New Mexico Political Report, a nonprofit news service covering politics […]

nmpoliticalreport.com logo
Aug 25 • 8:53 AM EDT • Politics • nmpoliticalreport.com
Planned Parenthood endorses Matt Dunlap in Maine 2nd CD race

The Cook Political Report lists the race as “likely Republican,” although House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Maine on Monday as part of a tour to promote Republican candidates across the country.

spectrumlocalnews.com logo
Aug 18 • 1:14 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (8%)
love
43%
wow
29%
angry
28%
House Speaker Mike Johnson stumps for LePage in Maine 2nd CD race

With workers in hard hats behind him, Johnson touted LePage’s difficult childhood of abuse, his post-graduate degree, his business background and his two terms as governor.

spectrumlocalnews.com logo
Aug 18 • 7:08 AM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Deep dive
☹️ Negative (-5%)
love
56%
wow
44%
Mike Johnson taunts Hakeem Jeffries for losing Dems' civil war 'in his own backyard'

Speaker Mike Johnson says Democrats are in an "open civil war" after DSA-linked candidates backed by Zohran Mamdani toppled Jeffries' allies.

foxnews.com logo
Aug 17 • 2:34 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks about Colorado politics, supports Rep. Gabe Evans
cbsnews.com logo
Aug 14 • 9:15 PM EDT • Politics • cbsnews.com
High-Signal Publisher
‘We are knifing each other’: Trump and Thune showdown splinters GOP unity ahead of midterms

House Speaker Mike Johnson sometimes can’t get President Trump off the phone. The calls can come in the middle of the day — or the dead of night — or even after hourslong meetings at the White House, the Louisiana Republican often tells associates.

cnn.com logo
Aug 2 • 6:30 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (12%)
wow
67%
ahah
33%
Inside Iowa Politics: Warning from U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to Iowans

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson had a warning for Iowans when he addressed the Family Leadership Summit.

kcrg.com logo
Jul 18 • 5:31 PM EDT • Politics • kcrg.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (12%)
wow
59%
love
41%
Inside Iowa Politics: Warning from U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to Iowans

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson had a warning for Iowans when he addressed the Family Leadership Summit.

kwqc.com logo
Jul 18 • 5:31 PM EDT • Politics • kwqc.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (12%)
wow
59%
love
41%
GOP leaders forced to abandon signature veterans benefits bill amid intra-party dispute

Speaker Mike Johnson suffered another humiliating political defeat at the hands of his own party on Thursday when he was forced to abandon plans to pass a veterans’ benefits bill designed to be one of the GOP’s big legislative wins before the midterms.

cnn.com logo
Jul 16 • 4:32 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
If Mike Johnson’s Phone Could Talk…or Sleep | WSJ Politics Newsletter for July 15

Plus, economists foresee stubborn inflation with strengthened growth and employment, while the U.S. and Iran reckon with shrinking options to end the war

wsj.com logo
Jul 15 • 7:10 AM EDT • Politics • wsj.com
Johnson scores win as conservative rebels end House floor blockade over voter ID bill

House conservatives blocked legislation to pressure Senate action on the SAVE America Act, but Speaker Mike Johnson proposed a deal to end the standoff.

foxnews.com logo
Jul 14 • 10:03 AM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com
Inside the GOP border security feud derailing Trump’s agenda in Congress

Speaker Mike Johnson had just delivered President Donald Trump his biggest legislative win of the year, but as he sat in his office in mid-June surrounded by a group of furious senior Republicans, the mood was sour.

cnn.com logo
Jul 6 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Speaker Johnson says House will pass Trump’s voter ID bill through arduous process after GOP revolt

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to move quickly to advance President Donald Trump’s signature voter ID legislation through the arduous budget reconciliation process once the House returns to Washington, downplaying the heightened tensions within the GOP after he sent lawmakers home early for the holidays after a few Republicans brought the floor to a halt.

cnn.com logo
Jul 5 • 1:53 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Speaker Johnson loses key vote as House GOP leaders struggle to contain rebellion

Speaker Mike Johnson is once again battling hardline conservatives for control of his own House floor — and he has no clear way out.

cnn.com logo
Jun 30 • 2:46 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (3%)
wow
56%
ahah
22%
love
22%
Republicans float new ideas to restrict birthright citizenship after ruling

GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson said birthright citizenship has been "overused and abused"

spectrumlocalnews.com logo
Jun 30 • 1:27 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Speaker Johnson sends housing bill to White House after Trump refused to sign measure

Speaker Mike Johnson officially transmitted Congress’ bipartisan housing bill to the White House on Monday, according to a spokesperson, kicking off a 10-day countdown for the bill to become law, even if the president does not sign it.

cnn.com logo
Jun 29 • 3:33 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Housing bill that Trump refuses to sign heads to his desk

House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to send a bipartisan housing bill to President Donald Trump’s desk Monday, but it is unclear whether he will sign it into law.

washingtonpost.com logo
Jun 29 • 11:13 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson says he understands Trump’s decision to cancel bill signing
cnn.com logo
Jun 24 • 11:42 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
This is a 'sad statement' about where we are in politics in America right now: Speaker Mike Johnson

House Speaker Mike Johnson discusses Congress's busy legislative agenda, including a new reconciliation package, the Save America Act, and the need to reauthorize FISA, on 'Sunday Night in America.'

foxnews.com logo
Jun 14 • 9:53 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com
Social Security is Facing a Political Crisis

On Tuesday the Social Security Trustees released their latest report on the system’s finances. The numbers didn’t change much: Unless something is done, the Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, Social Security’s official name, will be unable to pay full benefits starting in either 2032 or 2034, depending on some technical issues. That’s not far away: If the Trustees are right, the prospect of a Social Security crisis will loom over the next presidential administration. It’s important to understand, however, the nature of the looming crisis. It won’t be an economic crisis. It won’t even be a serious fiscal crisis. Whatever you may have heard, Social Security isn’t in danger of going bankrupt. What we’re facing, instead, is potential political crisis. Congress and the White House could easily take action to sustain America’s retirement system. But given the current state of our politics, there’s no guarantee that they will. There is a widespread misunderstanding of how Social Security works. While Social Security was designed to look like a pension fund, it isn’t. A pension fund pays benefits out of a stock of assets it has accumulated over time. In contrast, Social Security operates as a government transfer program, like food stamps or Medicaid. Now, unlike food stamps — but like the highway trust fund — Social Security is on paper supported by a dedicated tax, the payroll tax, that is assigned to that program. But I say “on paper” because from an economic point of view assigning the payroll tax to Social Security is just an accounting convention. What matters for the U.S. economy is the overall balance between government spending and government revenue, not the difference between one type of spending and one source of revenue. So there’s no inherent economic significance to the fact that by 2034 payroll tax receipts will be insufficient to cover promised benefits. There is, however, a legislative issue. As long as the Social Security Administration can pay benefits out of payroll taxes and its cash reserve, there’s no need for Congress to vote each year to authorize benefits — they just keep going out until further notice. However, once those resources become insufficient, benefits will fall —by 17 percent according to the Trustees — unless Congress passes new legislation that “tops up” Social Security’s finances. Yet the current administration and Republican party are such extremists that there is a real risk that Social Security will be held hostage on behalf of their goals. If this should come to pass, the hostage-takers will claim that shoring up Social Security is unaffordable. Right on cue, Mike Johnson, the Trump-sycophant Speaker of the House, declared on Monday that “entitlement programs” like Social Security “have to be adjusted and fixed,” and that Republicans will introduce a plan to that effect next year. But this is a ploy, because while the cost of maintaining Social Security benefits at their promised level isn’t trivial, it is in fact affordable. According to the Trustees’ report, the actuarial balance of OASDI up through 2050 — the amount of additional funds it would need to keep paying full benefits for the next 25 years — is 1.06 percent of GDP. To put that number in perspective, the Trump administration proposes increasing military spending next year by $420 billion, equivalent to about 1.4 percent of GDP – without any discussion of whether that’s affordable Yet how did we get to the point where Social Security will need to be topped up? The main answer is that we have an aging population, with a growing ratio of retirees collecting benefits to workers paying into the system: Trump’s anti-immigration policies are making this problem worse. According to the Trustees’ report, lower immigration will deepen Social Security’s financial hole because many immigrants are working-age adults who will pay into the system for decades before they collect benefits. In fact, this problem may be much bigger than the report acknowledges: The report’s baseline assumption is that we’ll have net immigration of almost 1.2 million people a year, and even the pessimistic case assumes 750,000 a year. Meanwhile actual net immigration has already been cut far below that — and may now be negative. Moreover, Social Security is being financially damaged by growing income inequality in America. Payroll taxes are levied only on wages up to $184,500, and they don’t touch capital income. With the distribution of income increasingly shifting from labor to capital, as well as becoming more unequal among wage-earners, revenue from the Social Security payroll tax has been falling as a share of national income. From 1990 to 2024, it fell from 5.02 percent of gross domestic income to 4.46 percent. Which brings me to the question that, these days, we ask about everything: How might Social Security be affected by the advent of AI? A short answer: If, as many of us fear, AI accelerates rising income inequality, it will further reduce the payroll tax receipts that currently pay for Social Security and further endanger its finances. On the other hand, if AI, as its advocates promise, leads to faster economic growth, it will increase the potential tax base that could and should be used to support Social Security and other social insurance programs. But to take advantage of that larger base, we’ll have to get serious about taxing wealth and capital income. Is Social Security in trouble? Yes, but only because of the way its financing is currently structured — a structure that no longer works well because our society and economy have become so unequal. Moreover, Trump’s immigration policies are further endangering its already deteriorating financial condition. So don’t believe Republicans’ gaslighting that it will be necessary to cut Social Security benefits. All that is necessary to preserve Social Security is political will to raise taxes on the wealthy and a sensible immigration policy. MUSICAL CODA Actually 67 under current law.

paulkrugman.substack.com logo
Jun 11 • 6:34 AM EDT • Politics • paulkrugman.substack.com
House is set to fund Trump's immigration actions for second term

Speaker Mike Johnson will need near perfect attendance and unity to pass the bill Tuesday

spectrumlocalnews.com logo
Jun 9 • 8:35 AM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Johnson: Democrats ‘playing politics’ with FISA over Pulte appointment

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) lambasted Democrats for suggesting that President Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence could imperil reauthorization of the …

thehill.com logo
Jun 3 • 12:20 PM EDT • Politics • thehill.com
Crowds pack into Washington's National Mall for prayer rally

President Donald Trump was expected to address the gathering, which got underway as a light rain fell, in a video message. Other top Republicans, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., were also on the schedule as part of the celebrations this year marking 250 years of U.S. independence.

pbs.org logo
May 17 • 12:55 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org
🙂 Positive (35%)
Johnson and Jeffries appoint bipartisan task force to reform sexual harassment reporting process on Capitol Hill

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appointed a bipartisan task force that will work to reform the way sexual harassment claims are handled in Congress.

cnn.com logo
May 13 • 7:22 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (17%)
ahah
42%
wow
32%
love
26%
House launches bipartisan push to combat sexual misconduct in Congress

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are announcing a task force “to make Congress a safer work environment” following several high-profile cases.

washingtonpost.com logo
May 13 • 5:42 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Colorado Democrat Jason Crow calls on House leadership to ban trading on prediction markets

U.S. Rep. Jason Crow on Monday joined a bipartisan call asking House Speaker Mike Johnson to adopt new rules banning the chamber’s lawmakers, their families and staff from participating in prediction markets, in a move the Aurora Democrat said can help restore public trust in Congress. The push comes less than two weeks after the […]

coloradopolitics.com logo
May 13 • 9:00 AM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com
The politics of Trump's ballroom

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — President Trump was about a half-hour into his second speech of the day, musing about the danger he faced last week at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “Saturday night, it was good for one thing. People are loving my ballroom now,” Trump told a crowd last night. “That’s the only thing. They love my ballroom.” Ever since he was hustled off stage at the Washington Hilton last week, after an attempted shooter breached the dinner’s security perimeter and sent guests diving to the floor, the president has argued that the incident is proof for why his White House ballroom is needed. Only his planned $400 million, 90,000-square-foot project, Trump has reasoned, can keep a president truly safe at major events. It’s true that a bunch of GOP lawmakers have jumped on board with new legislation and words of support for Trump’s project. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. Rand Paul and other prominent Republicans went on TV to talk about the need for a ballroom. But as we reported at The Washington Post this week, “people” aren’t really changing their minds on Trump’s ballroom. A new Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that most Americans still oppose the ballroom project: 56 percent against it versus 28 percent in favor. The numbers are the same as a poll from last year, the Post’s polling whiz Scott Clement found. Other new polls have found similar margins, too. “I’m just not a giant fan, especially of extravagance,” one independent voter told me. “I mean, in the era we’re in right now, given how much people are struggling, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to spend $400 million on a ballroom.” How we got here The Washington Post has followed Trump’s ballroom project very closely. (My colleague Jonathan Edwards may have written the most total words of any reporter about the project; I may be second.) The project exploded as a national issue after Trump tore down the White House’s East Wing after initially promising not to touch it.1 Historic preservationists sued, and about a month ago, a federal judge ordered a halt to ballroom construction.2 The only way the ballroom could proceed, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled, was if Congress explicitly authorized Trump’s plans. (An appeals court has stayed Leon’s order for now.) The judge’s ruling raised an obvious question: would Congress authorize the project? Keep in mind, “authorization” doesn’t mean that Congress needs to necessarily fund the planned $400 million project; they could just sign off on the private donations that Trump has solicited to pay for the ballroom.3 But GOP lawmakers really didn’t want to talk about the ballroom, we reported at The Post just a few weeks ago. One major reason was the ballroom’s bad polling — not a small detail with many of their own midterm elections looming. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner incident, and Trump’s advocacy, may have changed the political conversation around the ballroom. As this week’s polling shows, it doesn’t seem to have affected the fundamental questions surrounding the project. To put it another way, voters still say that cost-of-living concerns are top-of-mind heading into the midterms. Some Republican and independent voters have told me that they see the ballroom as a vanity project that will help Trump but do nothing for their own lives. It might not help Republicans that Trump has dismissed some of the cost-of-living concerns. He’s described “affordability” as a buzzword manufactured by Democrats whose policies helped cause inflation. “They’ve got one good line of bullshit,” Trump said in his first speech yesterday, delivered at a Florida retirement community known as The Villages. Thanks for reading Dan Diamond's newsletter! Subscribe for free to stay up-to-date on my work. Subscribe Speaking of Trump’s speeches… I’m down in Florida because it’s my “duty week” as a White House reporter — basically, I follow the president wherever he goes. (And then hand the baton off to one of my Washington Post colleagues next week.) As part of my duty week, I’ve spent a few days covering the White House’s reaction to Saturday’s attempted shooting, including officials’ review of the security protocols to protect the president. Trump was restrained in the wake of the incident, addressing the nation from the White House briefing room about the need for peaceful dialogue and trying to lower the temperature. But he’s clearly been itching to get back out of the White House, and I was curious to hear how his Florida speeches would go. And — to my ears — it was an unburdened Trump. Not the one we saw Saturday night in the White House briefing room, but the one we witnessed on the campaign trail in 2024. Loose, dropping profanities, mocking everyone, including members of his team. “We have a man here who knows more about Medicaid, Medicare, medical crap than any human being. Where’s Dr. Oz? Where the hell are you, stand up,” Trump said, referring to Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “It’s the most boring trip I’ve ever made. He’s telling me about Medicare, Medicaid. All I want to do is take care of you, I don’t care. I said, ‘You work out the details.’” I wrote up the speech, as Trump headed to West Palm Beach to deliver more remarks a few hours later. The White House didn’t like my story. Their rapid-response team called it the work of a “total loser”4 and “a miserable TDS-ridden moron.” You can be the judge of whether it’s a fair story or the product of someone afflicted with “TDS.” (The White House’s shorthand for “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”) I’ve pasted the story below with a gift link, meaning that you don’t need to be a Washington Post subscriber to read it. It might prompt you for an email address, though. Meanwhile, I’ll be down in Florida for the rest of the weekend, covering the president. It’s TBD whether those stories will be deemed TDS-afflicted, too. 1 Jonathan details the past six months of ballroom fallout, reactions and the implications for executive authority here. I also had a great time talking about Trump’s ballroom and other projects with Australia’s ABC News Daily on a podcast this week. 2 The judge allowed underground construction and national security-related work to continue. But that hasn’t been enough for Trump, who says the ballroom itself is essential for his protection. 3 The ballroom donors include companies like Palantir, Google and Amazon. For transparency, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, where I work. No one has ever interfered with our team’s coverage of the ballroom or our mentions of Amazon or Bezos, and if that changed, I’d speak out. 4 To be fair, I’ve spent the morning working on stories and writing this Substack post rather than enjoying the beautiful Florida weather. So they may be onto something about who’s winning and who’s losing.

dandiamond.substack.com logo
May 2 • 10:34 AM EDT • Politics • dandiamond.substack.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (8%)
wow
43%
ahah
33%
love
24%
A New Jersey Republican hasn’t voted in weeks, sparking questions over lengthy absence on Capitol Hill

Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey has not voted in Congress in weeks, sparking questions over when he will return to Capitol Hill as he faces a competitive race for reelection back home and Speaker Mike Johnson oversees an extremely narrow House majority in Washington.

cnn.com logo
Apr 30 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Speaker Mike Johnson gives firsthand experience after WHCD attack
cnn.com logo
Apr 27 • 4:03 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
After 2 failed votes, Mike Johnson unveils new plan to extend key U.S. spy powers

With an April 30 deadline fast approaching, Johnson unveiled his latest proposal to extend the controversial surveillance program known as FISA 702.

npr.org logo
Apr 24 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • npr.org
High-Signal Publisher
Johnson faces political gauntlet as legislative fights collide

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is barreling toward a brutal end-of-the-month crunch, juggling a slate of high-stakes legislative fights with intensifying calls for one of his members to step down and…

thehill.com logo
Apr 21 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • thehill.com
Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise lean on tax cuts as they fight to keep their majority in Congress

WASHINGTON — Usually April 15 is greeted with frowns, if not outright dread.

nola.com logo
Apr 18 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • nola.com
Mike Johnson Isn’t So Good at This Whole Speaker of the House Thing

He failed to deliver on a surveillance measure. Now he’s on the president’s naughty list.

esquire.com logo
Apr 17 • 3:14 PM EDT • Politics • esquire.com
Johnson backs Trump, Vance in criticism of pope

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was “taken a little bit aback” by recent comments from the pope.

politico.com logo
Apr 15 • 2:10 PM EDT • Politics • politico.com
What Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales resignations mean for Mike Johnson’s agenda in Congress

The House faces a series of “must-pass” bills on everything from surveillance to the Iran war to the Department of Homeland Security.

nola.com logo
Apr 15 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • nola.com
Congress Holocaust

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, speaks during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in honor of Benjamin Ferencz, at the Capitol, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Washington.

theadvocate.com logo
Apr 14 • 6:23 PM EDT • Politics • theadvocate.com
Mike Johnson says it's time to expel Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, but he's unsure on Cory Mills

'I believe it’ll be the consensus of the body that she should be expelled.'

floridapolitics.com logo
Apr 14 • 2:45 PM EDT • Politics • floridapolitics.com
Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise face a long, difficult to-do list as Congress returns

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise return to Capitol Hill Monday afternoon after a two-week Easter break with a long list of “must

nola.com logo
Apr 11 • 7:01 AM EDT • Politics • nola.com
😐 Neutral (0%)
New Reality: While Politics of Immigration Have Changed, GOP’s Mass Deportation Obsession Has Not

Washington, DC — Last Friday, before Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and the House Freedom Caucus scuttled the Senate funding deal in order to continue the DHS shutdown, America’s Voice highlighted the reality that the mass deportation obsession remained paramount for President Trump and de facto President Stephen Miller. This despite recent GOP attempts… Continue »

americasvoice.org logo
Mar 30 • 12:14 PM EDT • Politics • americasvoice.org
House GOP erupts over Senate’s overnight move to fund pieces of DHS

Speaker Mike Johnson does not currently have the House votes to approve the Senate’s early morning funding measure to fund large swaths of the Department of Homeland Security.

cnn.com logo
Mar 27 • 12:40 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
If Mike Johnson Goes, Who Runs House GOP?

The possibility of losing the majority in the midterms has put the Republican spotlight back on Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer.

wsj.com logo
Mar 22 • 10:48 AM EDT • Politics • wsj.com
Trump Claims to Have Reversed a House Republican’s Terminal Diagnosis

The president leaned on House Speaker Mike Johnson to name a Florida Republican whose grave prognosis was imperiling the party’s already slim voting margin. Both said his prospects had improved.

nytimes.com logo
Mar 16 • 2:15 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Trump reveals story about GOP lawmaker Neal Dunn’s health

President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) revealed Monday that Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) got a terminal diagnosis for a heart problem, prompting concerns about the House GOP’s super-slim major…

thehill.com logo
Mar 16 • 2:14 PM EDT • Health • thehill.com
Mike Johnson, in a split from Trump, says US shouldn't nation-build in Iran

When asked if he supports nation-building in Iran, the House GOP leader said "I don't," in contrast to the president's recent comments.

usatoday.com logo
Mar 11 • 3:56 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
House Republicans confront Iran war and gas prices as they struggle to push economic agenda

Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team have been struggling to find consensus behind an election-year agenda to address Americans’ chief concerns over affordability and their cost-of-living.

cnn.com logo
Mar 11 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Mike Johnson sounds alarm on 'serious' threat of Sharia law in America

Speaker Mike Johnson says the threat of Sharia law in America is a “serious problem," warning its tenets run afoul of the U.S. Constitution.

foxnews.com logo
Mar 10 • 3:20 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com
Mike Johnson asks embattled House Republican Tony Gonzales to drop re-election bid

House GOP leaders have asked embattled Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, to drop his bid for re-election.

foxnews.com logo
Mar 5 • 12:56 PM EST • Politics • foxnews.com
Report: Mike Johnson tells GOP donors that Neal Dunn may be terminally ill

The Panama City Republican has said he intends to serve out his term.

floridapolitics.com logo
Feb 27 • 3:41 PM EST • Politics • floridapolitics.com
North Fla. Congressman Neal Dunn may have 'terminal diagnosis': report

Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly told GOP donors surprising news about U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn's health. What did he say?

tallahassee.com logo
Feb 27 • 12:15 PM EST • Health • tallahassee.com
Lawmakers react to Trump's State of the Union address

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and other Republicans praised the president's speech, while Democrats slammed it and defended colleagues who protested.

washingtonpost.com logo
Feb 24 • 7:00 PM EST • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Who is Mike Johnson? House Speaker set for State of the Union

House Speaker Mike Johnson will usher President Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 24.

usatoday.com logo
Feb 24 • 2:00 PM EST • Politics • usatoday.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (10%)
wow
100%
Calls grow for Texas Rep. Gonzales to resign over allegations of affair

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he would talk to Gonzales on Tuesday.

spectrumlocalnews.com logo
Feb 24 • 12:52 PM EST • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Speaker Mike Johnson invites Louisiana business leader to State of Union

Trott Hunt said President Trump's policies advanced by the Republican Congress have driven expansion for his company and clients.

shreveporttimes.com logo
Feb 24 • 9:11 AM EST • Business • shreveporttimes.com
House speaker tells GOP Rep. Gonzales to promptly address affair allegations

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday said he’s spoken with Rep. Tony Gonzales about the “very serious” allegations against him and told the Texas Republican to address the claims.

cnn.com logo
Feb 23 • 3:01 PM EST • Politics • cnn.com
Johnson Will Bring Daughter of Jimmy Lai to State of the Union Address

Her appearance underscores that “America is determined” to secure the release of the Hong Kong democracy activist, Speaker Mike Johnson said.

nytimes.com logo
Feb 23 • 1:58 PM EST • Politics • nytimes.com
Partial Federal Shutdown Shrinks Congressional Presence in Munich

In a moment of frayed trans-Atlantic relations, Speaker Mike Johnson abruptly canceled the House delegation to Europe’s biggest annual security summit.

nytimes.com logo
Feb 12 • 7:52 PM EST • Politics • nytimes.com
Three House Republicans cross party lines to block effort to shield Trump from challenges to his tariffs

Speaker Mike Johnson failed to reinstate a ban on lawmakers’ ability to challenge President Donald Trump’s tariffs when three Republicans crossed party lines to vote with Democrats.

cnn.com logo
Feb 10 • 11:17 PM EST • Politics • cnn.com
Deep dive
☹️ Negative (-6%)
wow
78%
ahah
22%