House Cancels Votes as Republicans Revolt

Summary

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The Parnas Perspective

Episode: House Cancels Votes as Republicans Revolt

Host: Aaron Parnas

Date: June 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode unpacks a historic standstill in the House of Representatives, where Republican infighting and procedural gridlock have resulted in all votes being canceled before the July 4th recess. Host Aaron Parnas breaks down the implications of failed GOP leadership around the controversial SAVE Act, the political fallout from the Supreme Court’s ruling on birthright citizenship, and further disarray highlighted by sparse attendance at state government events and a rare speech addressing mental health from Congressman Tom Kean Jr.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. House Gridlock: GOP Violence Over SAVE Act

• GOP Revolt: The hardline Republican faction rebels against Speaker Mike Johnson after failure to advance the SAVE Act, leading to the House adjourning early for the July 4th break.
  • “The United States House of Representatives has gone home. It's in standstill after Republicans revolted against Mike Johnson and the SAVE act failed again.” (01:29)
• Procedural Breakdown: Johnson attached the divisive SAVE Act to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which led both Democrats and several Republicans to vote “No”—paralyzing one of Congress’ must-pass spending bills.
• Election-Year Impasse: With few working days left before the November election, Parnas notes legislative progress is unlikely:
  • “We only have a few more days left between now and November in terms of the amount of days Congress actually works. And so nothing's really going to get done between now and then.” (03:32)

2. Fallout Over Supreme Court’s Birthright Citizenship Ruling

• Supreme Court Decision: The Court invalidates Trump-era executive action attempting to limit birthright citizenship for children of non-citizens.
• GOP Reaction: Trump and supporters demand legislation—even as the Court’s decision renders such a move unconstitutional.
  • “Trump called on Congress to pass legislation to quickly, quote, make it up... Well, here's the problem for him. Today's Supreme Court opinion actually foreclosed Congress from taking any such action.” (03:56)
• Extreme Proposals & Nativist Rhetoric:
  • Republicans float draconian ideas like denying visas to pregnant women (“calling on the State Department to immediately cease giving out visas to pregnant applicants” 04:54) and even sterilization for foreign visitors, echoing the fever pitch in some circles.

3. Live Reaction: Legal and Historical Context

• Constitutional Lawyer’s Response: Fresh reaction to the ruling underscores the long, fraught debate over the 14th Amendment’s intentions and application:
  • “Children born in the United States, parents unlawfully or temporarily present, are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and are citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment citizenship clause.” (06:18)
• GOP Opposition and Frustration:
  • “I do think that this has been grossly abused in recent years.” —Constitutional Lawyer (06:36)

4. Embarrassing Optics: The Empty State Fair

• State Fair Flop: The ongoing administration's event in Washington, D.C. is under-attended—serving as a symbol of governmental ineffectiveness and public disinterest.
  • “The state fair has even less people today than yesterday. Going to break it all down...” (02:41)
• Highlighting the Lackluster Turnout:
  • “As you can see, very few, if any people. Usha Vance, the second lady, J.D. vance's wife, even spoke—look at her crowd.” (07:10)

5. Personal Story: Tom Kean Jr. Returns After Health Crisis

• Congressman’s Explanation: After a months-long unexplained absence, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) publicly discloses his battle with depression.
  • “Several months ago, due to health concerns, I entered the hospital for some testing. ...I was given the diagnosis of depression. Now, when people hear the word depression, many people think it simply means feeling sad. But depression is so much more than that. It is physical, it is emotional, and until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand.” — Tom Kean Jr. (08:18)
• Host Commentary: Parnas points out the irony that Kean previously voted against paid medical leave protections—even after suffering from a condition such provisions would cover.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Congressional Dysfunction:
  • “Right now, the House Republican Caucus is in a bit of a mess.” (02:32)
• On Legislative Futility:
  • “Mike Johnson simply could not pass a rule. ...Nothing's really going to get done between now and then.” (03:31)
• On Supreme Court Ruling:
  • “Today's Supreme Court opinion actually foreclosed Congress from taking any such action.” (04:11)
• On Citizenship Clause:
  • “Children born in the United States, parents unlawfully or temporarily present, are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and are citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment citizenship clause.” (06:18)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 01:29 – Overview of House Republican revolt and adjournment
• 03:32 – Explaining legislative deadlock and near-term gridlock
• 04:00 – Discussion of Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship ruling
• 05:30 – Real-time reaction from constitutional lawyer and historical context
• 06:44 – Extreme GOP proposals as fallout
• 07:10 – Sparse attendance and optics at the state fair
• 08:14 – Tom Kean Jr.'s return and mental health disclosure

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Tone and Style

• Pace & Personality: Fast-moving, direct commentary with a mixture of dry humor and pointed critique.
• Gen Z Voice: Promotes accessibility of political news to younger audiences:
  • “Millions of people have watched our content over the past week, many specifically young people who would not get this news elsewhere.” (02:00)
• Analytical but Relatable: Balances legal explanations with accessible context and personal stories for broader resonance.

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Summary Takeaway

Aaron Parnas’ episode crystallizes the current dysfunction in D.C.: a fractured GOP unable to unify on immigration messaging, public pushback against overreaching proposals, and visible exhaustion with both leadership and event turnout. Against this backdrop, the personal vulnerability shown by Rep. Kean Jr. underscores how political and personal crises are increasingly intersecting in today’s Congress. This episode serves as a brisk, insightful tour through a single day’s chaos—with a direct appeal to stay engaged and informed.

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Transcript

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[Political News Commentator]

We have breaking developments right now. The United States House of Representatives has gone home. It's in standstill after Republicans revolted against Mike Johnson and the SAVE act failed again. Johnson has been having a lot of trouble with his Republican caucus over the SAVE Act. Hardline Republicans want it passed by the Senate. The Senate is refusing to act, and so today they essentially blocked all proceedings from occurring on the House floor. The House is going home. At the same time, Republicans are now calling the Supreme Court illegitimate after a ruling invalidating Donald Trump's Birthright Citizenship executive order. Trump called for legislation to essentially overturn this ruling, which he can't actually do. Some Republicans are calling for birth tourism, as they say, to end denying all visa applicants to pregnant women and much more. The state fair has even less people today than yesterday. Going to break it all down if you can, as always, subscribe to my substack link below to support my work. We're really breaking through. Millions of people have watched our content over the past week, many specifically young people who would not get this news elsewhere. And we're doing it because of you. So if you can truly mean a lot, subscribe, click the link below. And let's break it down. Right now, the House Republican Caucus is in a bit of a mess. Why? Because Mike Johnson's latest effort to force a vote on the Save America act has failed. The House failed to clear a procedural vote by a vote of 198 to 224 on the National Defense Authorization act, the NDAA, a massive spending bill that is meant to fund the Pentagon, largely because the SAVE act was attached. Right. Some Democrats would have voted to support the NDAA on its own, but Mike Johnson decided to attach the SAVE act to the ndaa. And while it failed, a whole number of Republicans also voted against moving the NDA forward because they're upset with the fact that the United States Senate isn't moving the SAVE act forward on its own. And so you have a situation where the House of Representatives is in standstill, essentially. Now the House is going home after the vote series and the July 4th recess will begin because Mike Johnson simply could not pass a rule. And so we're in a situation now where the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives has revolted enough against Johnson that they're sending everyone home for Fourth of July recess. They probably won't be back until later in July. Then you have election season. We only have a few more days left between now and November in terms of the amount of days Congress actually works. And so nothing's really going to get done between now and then. Now, today we had that big Supreme Court decision, as you know, in birthright citizenship. In response, Trump called on Congress to pass legislation to quickly, quote, make it up with the support of the president, saying no long an unwieldy constitutional amendment is necessary. Congress should start today to work on ending expensive and unfair to our country birthright citizenship. They will have my complete and total support. Well, here's the problem for him. Today's Supreme Court opinion actually foreclosed Congress from taking any such action. It would be completely unconstitutional for Congress to take any action to change birthright citizenship, to change the 14th Amendment. And so Trump can't do anything. What they can do is they can try to do things like this, end birth tourism, as Lauren Boeber calls it, calling on the State Department to immediately cease giving out visas to pregnant applicants. A question that many people get asked when they apply for a visa is whether or not they are pregnant, and they have to answer honestly. And so now you have Republicans calling for the ending of applicants or who are pregnant to receive visas. Here's how Mike Johnson responded to the Supreme Court gutting birth or gutting Trump's executive order.

[Interviewer]

So birthright citizenship, which, as I speak, has not come down yet, but it helped hundreds of thousands of formerly enslaved people in Louisiana. Now, do you, as a constitutional lawyer and representative to the descendants of some of those people who were enslaved, agree with the president that it should be done away with?

[Constitutional Lawyer]

What was the. I missed the first part of the question. No. What was the reference?

[Interviewer]

Not come down yet. But do you agree with the president that should be done away with?

[Constitutional Lawyer]

What hasn't come down? Oh, oh, birthright. Sorry. Birthright citizenship. Yeah. Okay, look, yes, as a constitutional lawyer, I got lots of opinions on this. Okay. Understand what the framers did and, and when we added this to the, to our constitutional order, understood what the, what the intent was. I do think, I think anybody who looks at this. Oh, dear. What they rule. Here we go.

[Political News Commentator]

Children born in the United States, parents unlawfully or temporarily present, are subject to

[Tom Kean Jr.]

the jurisdiction of the United States and

[Political News Commentator]

our citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment citizenship clause. What's your reaction to that? Well, this is real time.

[Constitutional Lawyer]

I need to read the opinion. Okay. But obviously that's, I mean, you could say that's a textualist, originalist view. However, I, I do think that this has been grossly abused in recent years. Okay.

[Political News Commentator]

And so he's not too happy. I mean, you even have some Republicans, like the leader of the Federalists, a Republican newspaper, Sean Davis, called for the requirement to sterilize all foreign visitors prior to them entering the country. Now, when you talk about America, 250. And what's coming up? Well, we have the state fair, which has been a bit of a debacle for the administration, and it looks even worse today. This is what the state fair looked like this afternoon. As you can see, very few, if any people. Usha Vance, the second lady, J.D. vance's wife, even spoke, look at her crowd.

[Event Host]

But we finally did it after, after a month or two. And so we're thrilled to have you all here in Washington, D.C. and we thank you so much. I encourage everyone to visit our pavilion. It's right here. That's where you can get your passport to America. If you haven't received one of those yet you take the passport around to all the states and they'll stamp them for you so you know where you've

[Political News Commentator]

been and Another kind of empty day. Now, Tom Keene Jr. If you don't know him, New Jersey congressman. He has been out of essentially the House of Representatives for a little while now, several months without any explanation. Missed over 100 votes. He came back. Here's what he said.

[Tom Kean Jr.]

I rise today with deep gratitude for the patience, the kindness, the prayers and the concern that have been shown to me and my family over the course of the last several months. This is not an easy speech for me to give. I am a private person by nature and I spent most of my life talking about the people that I represent, the issues facing our communities and the work that's continues to be done. Talking about myself has never come naturally. But I believe that I owe an explanation to the people of New Jersey's 7th district, to my colleagues in this chamber, and to the American people for my absence. Several months ago due to health concerns, I entered the hospital for some testing. I did not believe that this would result in a long term stay. I was given the diagnosis of depression. Now, when people hear the word depression, many people think simply feel it means feeling sad. But depression is so much more than that. It is physical, it is emotional, and until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand.

[Political News Commentator]

Mind you, Tom Keene actually voted against paid leave for individuals going through what he went through. Like Comment Share if you can subscribe to my substack link below to support See you soon. Hey folks, thanks so much for watching. Feel free to add this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you watch for the latest breaking news and daily hits throughout the day. Make sure to follow. Subscribe See you soon for more.

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