MAGA Mike Gets Humiliated by His Own Party on Vote

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast Summary: "MAGA Mike Gets Humiliated by His Own Party on Vote"

Release Date: April 10, 2025
Host/Author: MeidasTouch Network
Episode Title: MAGA Mike Gets Humiliated by His Own Party on Vote

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Overview

In this episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, hosts Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas delve into the tumultuous events surrounding MAGA Mike Johnson, a prominent figure within the Republican Party. The episode provides an in-depth analysis of Johnson's failed attempt to pass the Senate budget blueprint in the House of Representatives, highlighting the internal conflicts within the MAGA faction and the broader implications for American democracy.

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MAGA Mike Johnson's Budget Attempt

The episode opens with a detailed account of MAGA Mike Johnson's recent political maneuvering. Johnson aimed to secure the passage of the Senate's budget blueprint, which proposed significant cuts totaling $880 billion in Medicaid, $400 billion in education, and nearly the same in agriculture. Additionally, the blueprint sought to revoke Congress's authority over tariffs, granting Donald Trump expansive powers in trade matters.

At 00:30, the Political Analyst explains:

"MAGA Mike Johnson was promising Donald Trump that he'd be able to deliver the passage of the Senate budget blueprint... an embarrassing thing for a Speaker to be kind of stood up by their own party."

Despite Johnson's assurances, his strategy backfired when, after awaiting 80 minutes for support on the House floor, it became evident he lacked the necessary votes from his own party to advance the blueprint.

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Internal Party Conflict

The heart of Johnson's debacle lies in the infighting within the MAGA Republicans. The Senate proposed $4 billion in cuts, starkly contrasted by the House's demanding $1.5 trillion in spending reductions. This discrepancy fueled tensions, with Johnson unable to reconcile the two positions.

At 04:05, a clip of MAGA Mike Johnson reflects his optimism despite setbacks:

"We're continuing to have discussions... I'm optimistic, as I always am, and we're working towards that final consensus."

However, as the Political Analyst notes at 06:09:

"They use the Rules Committee resolution to circumvent US Law."

Further complicating matters, key MAGA figures like Andy Biggs, Ralph Norman, Chip Roy, and Thomas Massie voiced strong opposition to the Senate's budget blueprint, emphasizing concerns over the growing deficit and the lack of substantial cuts.

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Democratic Leader's Response

In response to the chaos within the Republican ranks, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries stepped forward, challenging Johnson to a direct debate. At 13:33, Jeffries confronted Johnson:

"...I'm ready to yield. I'm ready to debate one on one on this House floor... you can tell the American people how you want to go after Social Security and Medicaid and just justify it."

Jeffries criticized the Republican strategy, highlighting the potential increase in deficits and the negative impact on average American families.

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Implications for Medicaid and Tariffs

A significant focus of the budgetary conflict is the proposed cuts to Medicaid, which would affect nearly 40% of Johnson's district. The House's budget blueprint threatens to gut Medicaid, a point of contention not just within the GOP but also among constituents relying on these services.

Moreover, the debate extends to tariff authority, where Johnson indicated a willingness to grant Donald Trump unchecked powers. At 10:33, Johnson stated:

"Give the President the latitude… to do what it is he was elected to do and that is get this economy going again and get our trade properly balanced with other countries."

This move has raised alarms about the issuing of tariffs without Congressional oversight, effectively sidelining one of the foundational checks and balances within the U.S. government.

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Donald Trump's Influence and Future Prospects

The episode also touches upon Donald Trump's role in pressuring MAGA Republicans to pass the budget blueprint. A clip from Trump at 14:46 underscores his persistence:

"If we don't get it done because of stupidity or couple of people that want to show how great they are, you just have to laugh at them or smile at them or cry right in their face."

Despite Trump's aggressive stance, the failure to unify the MAGA faction has led to a significant defeat for both Johnson and Trump, leaving the party grappling with internal divisions and uncertain prospects as they approach the 2026 elections.

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Conclusion and Future Outlook

The podcast concludes with an analysis of the ongoing budgetary impasse, emphasizing the challenges ahead for the Republican Party in reconciling the Senate and House blueprints. With looming issues like the debt ceiling and potential defaults, the episode suggests that the current stalemate is just the beginning of a more contentious legislative battle.

The MeidasTouch hosts urge listeners to stay informed and engage with the unfolding political drama, highlighting the critical nature of these developments for the future of American democracy.

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Notable Quotes

• MAGA Mike Johnson (04:05): "We're continuing to have discussions... I'm optimistic, as I always am, and we're working towards that final consensus."

• MAGA Mike Johnson (10:33): "Give the President the latitude… to do what it is he was elected to do and that is get this economy going again and get our trade properly balanced with other countries."

• Hakeem Jeffries (13:33): "...I'm ready to yield. I'm ready to debate one on one on this House floor... you can tell the American people how you want to go after Social Security and Medicaid and just justify it."

• Donald Trump (14:46): "If we don't get it done because of stupidity or couple of people that want to show how great they are, you just have to laugh at them or smile at them or cry right in their face."

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Final Thoughts

The episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast masterfully dissects the intricate power struggles within the Republican Party, spotlighting the vulnerabilities and challenges faced by MAGA Mike Johnson. Through engaging brotherly banter and incisive analysis, the Meiselas brothers provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the current political landscape, emphasizing the pivotal moments that shape the future of American governance.

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For more detailed discussions and insights, be sure to listen to the full episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast available every Tuesday and Friday morning, with live video sessions on Mondays and Thursdays at 8 PM ET on their YouTube channel.

Transcript

[Host]

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[Political Analyst]

Speaker of the House of Representatives MAGA Mike Johnson just got humiliated by his own party on the floor in the House of Representatives. MAGA Mike Johnson was promising Donald Trump that he'd be able to deliver the passage of the Senate budget blueprint, which was recently passed, that the House would adopt that then they would go further into the reconciliation process to ultimately pass this horrific budget that would gut $880 billion in Medicaid, $400 billion in education, close to the same amount in agriculture, and then also completely revoke the authority of Congress to assert its lawful authority over tariffs and allow Donald Trump to basically do whatever he wants. So MAGA Mike put this Senate budget blueprint for a vote in the House of Representatives. Now, for those who know the procedures in the House, you don't do that if you think you're going to lose. It's an embarrassing thing for a Speaker to be kind of stood up by their own party. That's precisely what happened yesterday. MAGA Mike was waiting in the House floor for like 80 minutes. First it was 30 minutes, 60 minutes, then 80 minutes, and then it was clear that MAGA Mike was not going to have the votes from his own party in order to pass the Senate blueprint. Now, this follows Donald Trump the night before, on Tuesday night, speaking before all the MAGA Republican Congress members at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner, and Donald Trump basically threatening them all, you better vote for this or else they did not line up and actually vote for it yet. Now that could change today. But you take a look right here. Howie Talbot, who does a great job covering this stuff, has the following spreadsheet about how the budget vote that MAGA Mike promised he would get done was punted over this extra day. There's about 20ish members MAGA Republicans who aren't voting for this. The House is supposed to leave for a two week recess today, but MAGA Mike Johnson says, I'm gonna keep you over the weekend right now if you don't vote for this. Take a look at this spreadsheet that she prepared right here. Now, if you listen to what the MAGA Republicans are saying, they're saying that the Senate budget blueprint only has about $4 billion in cuts. Um, whereas the MAGA Republicans say that their House blueprint calls for $1.5 trillion in cuts. There's also kind of a dispute over this wonky ish language over the Trump tax cuts and, um, in putting forward these Trump tax cuts for the billionaires and how that's going to be calculated in order to pretend that it's not going to add at least $4 trillion to the deficit. So you have all of this infighting taking place. But there was Maga Mike waiting 80 minutes. The process blew up yesterday, and now he's gotta kind of wrangle everybody together. Is Donald Trump gonna call and start threatening all the MAGA Republican Congress members? Let me show you this clip. Right. Because they didn't respond to the threats from Tuesday night. I'll. Here's MAGA Mike Johnson saying yesterday that he was still going to put this for a vote and he thought he'd get it done, but he did not get it done. Here, play this clip.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

We're continuing to have discussions. The intention is have the vote by this evening. And, and we'll see when that time is. Very, very positive, productive discussions. Everybody's moving forward. And I'm really pleased with the dialogue. And that sounds like you're short. I'm not going to tell you what the number is, but I'll tell you I'm optimistic, as I always am, and we're working towards that final consensus.

[Congress Member]

Will the Senate. Will the Senate have to put down its cuts? The Senate will have to put down the cuts they'll agree to before this vote happens tonight?

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

Look, I don't think so. There's a lot of good faith dialogue and discussion going on between leaders in both chambers, and that's been very productive. It's a one team approach, and I think we're going to continue that for the next couple of hours and we'll see what we land tonight.

[Congress Member]

How late will you stay? How late will you stay tonight?

[Political Analyst]

As Jake Sherman, who covers this every day for the past very long period of time, the comings and goings of Congress, he said, I've never quite seen anything like this in my career. He also said, this is supposed to be the easy part of reconciliation right here. So what now? MAGA Mike Johnson is going to try to go to a conference with House leadership and Senate leadership in order to bridge the difference between 4 billion in cuts from the Senate and 1.5 trillion in spending cuts from the MAGA Republicans in the House. As Jake Sherman says, got it easy enough. Makes a ton of sense right here. Let's take a look. Manu Raju from cnn. He does a good job reaching out to these MAGA Republican Congress members and others outside of Capitol Hill. Um, here he's talking about people he's. He spoke to MAGA Republicans like Tim Burchett and others. Watch. Watch this right here. Here, play this clip while we're bringing.

[Host]

It up for a vote right now. It clearly doesn't have the votes. There's. I know, over 12 members that are.

[Congress Member]

Planning to vote against it. So you're affirmed. Now, currently it looks like there's 15 members that are holding out right now. So unless something changes, if you can't pass it, you pass it so you do something better.

[Political Analyst]

They use the Rules Committee resolution to circumvent US Law.

[Congress Member]

So that's the difference. What's your reaction to that?

[Political Analyst]

It's illegal. Now here's MAGA Republican Congress member Andy Biggs. He's a holdout as well, not approving the Senate budget blueprint. Um, here's what he had to say. Play this clip.

[Congress Member]

How are you going to vote today? This comes from the floor.

Well, I haven't even whipped, so I'm not going to tell you.

Okay, so what is your love. What is your concern about the Senate's plan right now? What is your concern about the Senate's plan right now?

Their plan is unserious, I think is the bottom line. And if you were to look at the Senate plan, what we see is they want. They're proposing $4 billion and it cuts over 10, 10 years. We got a $2.25 trillion a year structural deficit that needs to be addressed. And they're not really addressing.

But given that, how could you possibly get to. Yes, well.

I continue to talk, I continue to work, see what we can find out.

Thanks for your time.

[Political Analyst]

Here's a bunch of other MAGA Republican Congress members saying that they're not going to vote for this blueprint. Like Ralph Norman and Chip Roy and Thomas Massie and others. Here, play this clip.

[Congress Member]

This budget. Are you a hard no on it?

I've got to see the proof. It's all about math. We got an arithmetic problem. 4 billion versus 2 trillion is a little bit of difference. That's what we're trying to do.

So you think the Senate's plan just does not add up.

Why didn't they put it in there. Give us some assurances.

There's a lot of mistrust in that process right now. So we're trying to work through that right now with a bunch of members. I am a no on this bill as it stands.

[Political Analyst]

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[Host]

The Senate sent over a joke and we're going to capitulate to the Senate knowing full well that the Senate instructions carry the day. And we're going to be sitting there in a reconciliation debate where we're going to end up on the short end of the stick. But worse, the American people are going to end up on the short end of the stick because it absolutely increases deficits. No one can deny it. Anyone wants to get in a room and come debate me with a whiteboard, show me the math. At some point, if you're in Congress, pass a math test because the Senate bill doesn't add up. It will destroy this country with more deficits and the inflation tax that is crippling the average American family, I will not vote for the Senate bill.

[Political Analyst]

Now here was MAGA Mike Johnson also indicating that he was not going to do any sort of checks and balances as it relates to Trump's tariffs. And he was just going to Give Donald Trump carte blanche authority to do whatever he wants on tariffs. Here, play this clip.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

Mr. Speaker, not sure yet.

[Congress Member]

Mr. Speaker, there is a push by some of your members to give Congress a say. John Macon has a bill to give Congress a say in review the tariffs. Why not give Congress the opportunity to have it be a check.

[MAGA Mike Johnson]

Congress will weigh in on it, but with the President with the administration in tandem and I think got to give the President the latitude, the Runway, to do what it is he was elected to do and that is get this economy going again and get our trade properly balanced with other countries. So I think most American people understand the necessity of that.

[Political Analyst]

Now, one of the language that was being inserted into this budget blueprint and this budget in order to give Donald Trump full tariff authority was to basically talk about Donald Trump's emergency power, like Donald Trump's asserting special like wartime emergency powers to do these tariffs. Because the power of tariffing is quite literally the power of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. But the MAGA Republicans in the House and the Senate are letting Donald Trump just do this without the House and Senate's oversight. Like it's a complete abdication of the co equal branch of Congress by the MAGA Republican Congress members. And what they're doing in the budget is they put language that says that it won't count as a calendar day, any kind of discussion or debate over the tariffs, so that it can't even be discussed during the next but six, six to nine month period because they're not even saying discussion of tariffs constitutes a actual calendar day. Meanwhile, I mean the, the feud between these MAGA Republicans is, is growing as well. You have MAGA Republican Congress member Stubby Stubby Stooby Doo says to MAGA Mike Johnson, where are you? He didn't say that. He said, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. MAGA Mike Johnson. In the name of Jesus, you are rebuked. MAGA Mike Johnson. You know, it is interesting to point out as well that in Magamike Johnson's district, nearly 40% of the people in his district are on Medicaid. Rely on Medicaid and the House budget basically totally guts Medicaid. And they're like, oh, it doesn't got Medicaid. It does. They bury it in, oh, we're just dealing with this specific committee. It's say goodbye to Medicaid under the House budget. What I do like though is the Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries calling MAGA Mike Johnson out. He sent a letter saying let's debate on the House floor. MAGA Mike Johnson, I won't rebuke you in the name of Jesus. I'll just do a debate. Why don't we show the American people what we think about this? This way you can tell the American people how you want to go after Social Security and Medicaid and just justify it. Let's talk leader to leader. Let's do a debate. Of course, MAGA Mike Johnson's too scared to do it. So Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries took the floor Y and here's what he had to say.

[Congress Member]

Play this clip and the Republican budget proposal that would enact the largest Medicaid cut in American history in order to pass massive tax breaks for your billionaire donors like Elon Musk. Mr. Speaker, I'm ready to yield. I'm ready to debate one on one on this House floor. And I promise not to rebuke you in the name of Jesus here in America. We were told, we were told by Donald Trump and House Republicans that you were going to lower the high cost of living for everyday Americans. In fact, we were told that you were going to do it on day one and it hasn't happened.

[Political Analyst]

Love that. Love that clip right there. And just to remind you, here's what Donald Trump was saying to the MAGA Republicans Tuesday night to try to force them to pass this budget blueprint on Wednesday, which they refused to do. Here's Donald Trump the night before.

[Donald Trump]

Play the clip four years ago. If we follow through on this agenda, we will be rewarded with a phenomenal economy and a massive victory at the ballot box in 2026 because we will have a record of triumph like no president has ever had, like no Congress has ever had. They will not be able to even touch your seat. Your seat is secure. And we'll pick up 40, 50 or even 60 seats. And we'll have something that's going to be smooth sailing for years to come. If we don't get it done because of stupidity or couple of people that want to show how great they are, you just have to laugh at them or smile at them or cry right in their face.

[Political Analyst]

And so a big defeat for MAGA Mike Johnson and Donald Trump. Now the MAGA Republicans have to bridge the Senate's blueprint, 4 billion in cuts. The House blueprint 1.5 trillion. And that's where we're at. So we will see what happens right there. And then we're staring down issues regarding the debt ceiling and what's going to happen there and will there eventually be a default, and when will this whole bill go through the reconciliation process? And again, this is the this is supposed to be the easy part because they're just agreeing on blueprints like they're not even getting into the weeds yet of the numbers. This is supposed to be the easiest part because it's just BS blueprints, basically. Then it gets to, like, the actual cuts in the weeds, but we're not even there yet, so things are gonna get crazy. Anyway. Hit subscribe let's get to 5 million subscribers. Thanks for watching New Midas Merch Drop. Check out the latest Pro Democracy sticker packs, T shirts, hats, sweatshirts, and more, [e-mail] touch.com.