There are a number of political variables that could affect President Joe Biden’s view of Mike Johnson’s speakership in the lead up to the November election. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden and Speaker Mike Johnson built an unlikely working relationship in recent months — a partnership that handed Biden a pivotal foreign policy victory and surprised much of Washington, which assumed nothing at all would get done.
So he’s staying away. The president has so far refrained from advising House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on what to do should conservatives try to oust Johnson, aides said. He has offered no assurances about the future in his calls with the Speaker. And after clinching a deal to send billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, Biden aides believe the House has largely finished its major legislative activity for the year.
The two sides tightroped through a monthslong federal funding fight, managing at every turn to keep the government open. They made a joint push to pass a controversial bill reauthorizing surveillance authorities. And after months of stalled talks, Johnson backed a sweeping foreign aid package that sent funds to Ukraine over the objections of much of the GOP conference.
Yet Biden aides emphasized they won’t try to sway whatever political fate awaits the speaker. The White House is wary of appearing to undermine Jeffries’ authority over his conference, and Biden aides have grown to trust the Democratic leader’s instincts after watching him navigate the chaotic events of the past year.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said following the House vote on the foreign aid package that the administration would stick to its blanket policy against opining on congressional leadership battles, adding that the question of whether to protect Johnson is for Jeffries and his conference to decide.Jeffries has been reluctant to commit to saving Johnson, and said during a press conference last week White House officials haven’t weighed in on the potential upcoming decision.
Politically, some argue, Democrats benefit from showing they’re the responsible adults in the room and will be rewarded for crossing the aisle to oppose the GOP’s most extreme tendencies. Personally, they acknowledge, it may simply feel good to deal a resounding loss to antagonists like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene , a now vocal Johnson critic.
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