U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) during a reception for Republican members of the House of Representatives in the East Room of the White House on July 22, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Spineless Mike Johnson Grovels to Trump and Shutters the House Early
Imagine Johnson, a lawyer, took an oath to uphold the Constitution yet has no interest in safeguarding the independence of the congressional branch of our government.
The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson—probably the worst speaker in American history—shut down the House early this week before its five-week vacation. He wants to avoid holding votes on releasing the Epstein files that reportedly include, among other notables, President Donald J. Trump.
This is the latest valet service provided by a spineless Johnson, a Trump toady, whose groveling has no known boundaries. Imagine Johnson, a lawyer, took an oath to uphold the Constitution yet has no interest in safeguarding the independence of the congressional branch of our government.
Like Trump, he falsely characterizes what is in the Trump corporate giveaway tax-budget bill that shattered the country’s social safety net for American families. No one has ever even dared to promote such a draconian tax bill. Our country’s safety net has had the support of both parties until the wrecking crew of Trump, Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) showed up.
Johnson declined to protect his own party members who were raising serious questions about Trump’s big, destructive bill. He allowed the Trumpsters to physically threaten these dissenters to get them back in line.
No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the executive branch remains the surrendering norm.
Most seriously, he has further crumpled the Founders’ system of checks and balances by turning the House of Representatives into an automatic rubber stamp for Trump. Johnson even refuses to allow his committee chairs to hold hearings on legislation Trump wants to ram through Congress. Johnson and his cronies do no oversight of the executive branch despite Trump’s vast violations and vicious cruelties, such as firing tens of thousands of key federal civil servants and further debilitating the resources of the Internal Revenue Service to collect taxes from the evasive super-rich and big companies. And the list goes on.
As The New York Times elaborated further with this description:
Mr. Johnson’s decision to shut down the House early was the latest example of how the speaker has in many ways ceded the chamber’s independence in order to please or avoid angering Mr. Trump. He has deferred to the president on matters large and small, including when it comes to Congress’ spending power. He quietly maneuvered this year to yield the House’s ability to weigh in on Mr. Trump’s tariffs, in order to spare Republicans from having to cast politically tricky votes on whether to end them.
The larger decline of Congress providing countervailing checks and balances reflecting the interests of the people, whose sovereign power under the Constitution has been delegated to it as a public trust, and has been eroded for decades. (See, “Congressional Surrender and Presidential Overreach” by Bruce Fein).
No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the executive branch remains the surrendering norm.
The consensus by the two parties extends to the minimal days that Congress is actually in session. The members take numerous vacations (they call them “recesses”). They see the weeks they work as starting on Tuesday and ending on Thursday. In between even those days, they are busy in fundraising offices dialing for campaign dollars.
With such limited workdays for a full-time, well-paying job, members of Congress have less time for hearings to investigate wrongdoing, waste, and neglect of actions in the executive branch or the dubious ethical practices in the federal judiciary and federal prosecutors’ offices.
Increasingly, it is nearly impossible for informed citizens to secure congressional hearings and be invited as witnesses, as was the case in the 60s and 70s. Congress is, however, “open for business” if you represent big corporations. Congress has built a cocoon around itself with a sign reading: Business Lobbyists Only. People are bitterly complaining about their inability to get through to their senators or representatives if they are not big campaign contributors or from big business. (See, The Incommunicados by Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein).
The solution is obvious. The people back home must organize Congress Watch Groups—call it a crucial civic hobby (See: The Day the Rats Vetoed Congress)—and establish a tradition of formally summoning their wayward lawmakers to the people’s Town Meetings with the people’s agendas on the table (See, Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think, City Lights Books).
There are many overdue changes and reforms backed by large majorities of liberal and conservative voters to make Watchdog Groups a formidable force. One percent of the voters can change Congress, especially because the necessities of the People are widely and strongly supported by millions of voters.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
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The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson—probably the worst speaker in American history—shut down the House early this week before its five-week vacation. He wants to avoid holding votes on releasing the Epstein files that reportedly include, among other notables, President Donald J. Trump.
This is the latest valet service provided by a spineless Johnson, a Trump toady, whose groveling has no known boundaries. Imagine Johnson, a lawyer, took an oath to uphold the Constitution yet has no interest in safeguarding the independence of the congressional branch of our government.
Like Trump, he falsely characterizes what is in the Trump corporate giveaway tax-budget bill that shattered the country’s social safety net for American families. No one has ever even dared to promote such a draconian tax bill. Our country’s safety net has had the support of both parties until the wrecking crew of Trump, Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) showed up.
Johnson declined to protect his own party members who were raising serious questions about Trump’s big, destructive bill. He allowed the Trumpsters to physically threaten these dissenters to get them back in line.
No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the executive branch remains the surrendering norm.
Most seriously, he has further crumpled the Founders’ system of checks and balances by turning the House of Representatives into an automatic rubber stamp for Trump. Johnson even refuses to allow his committee chairs to hold hearings on legislation Trump wants to ram through Congress. Johnson and his cronies do no oversight of the executive branch despite Trump’s vast violations and vicious cruelties, such as firing tens of thousands of key federal civil servants and further debilitating the resources of the Internal Revenue Service to collect taxes from the evasive super-rich and big companies. And the list goes on.
As The New York Times elaborated further with this description:
Mr. Johnson’s decision to shut down the House early was the latest example of how the speaker has in many ways ceded the chamber’s independence in order to please or avoid angering Mr. Trump. He has deferred to the president on matters large and small, including when it comes to Congress’ spending power. He quietly maneuvered this year to yield the House’s ability to weigh in on Mr. Trump’s tariffs, in order to spare Republicans from having to cast politically tricky votes on whether to end them.
The larger decline of Congress providing countervailing checks and balances reflecting the interests of the people, whose sovereign power under the Constitution has been delegated to it as a public trust, and has been eroded for decades. (See, “Congressional Surrender and Presidential Overreach” by Bruce Fein).
No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the executive branch remains the surrendering norm.
The consensus by the two parties extends to the minimal days that Congress is actually in session. The members take numerous vacations (they call them “recesses”). They see the weeks they work as starting on Tuesday and ending on Thursday. In between even those days, they are busy in fundraising offices dialing for campaign dollars.
With such limited workdays for a full-time, well-paying job, members of Congress have less time for hearings to investigate wrongdoing, waste, and neglect of actions in the executive branch or the dubious ethical practices in the federal judiciary and federal prosecutors’ offices.
Increasingly, it is nearly impossible for informed citizens to secure congressional hearings and be invited as witnesses, as was the case in the 60s and 70s. Congress is, however, “open for business” if you represent big corporations. Congress has built a cocoon around itself with a sign reading: Business Lobbyists Only. People are bitterly complaining about their inability to get through to their senators or representatives if they are not big campaign contributors or from big business. (See, The Incommunicados by Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein).
The solution is obvious. The people back home must organize Congress Watch Groups—call it a crucial civic hobby (See: The Day the Rats Vetoed Congress)—and establish a tradition of formally summoning their wayward lawmakers to the people’s Town Meetings with the people’s agendas on the table (See, Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think, City Lights Books).
There are many overdue changes and reforms backed by large majorities of liberal and conservative voters to make Watchdog Groups a formidable force. One percent of the voters can change Congress, especially because the necessities of the People are widely and strongly supported by millions of voters.
- 'This Is Cowardice': House GOP Sneakily Tries to Shield Trump Tariff Powers ›
- 'Cowardly' and 'Spineless': 10 Dems Join House GOP to Censure Al Green for Disrupting Trump Speech ›
- Critics Bury 'Coward' Mike Johnson for Excusing Trump's Sewage-Spewing AI Video | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | The Spinelessness of Thune and Johnson Is Destroying American Democracy | Common Dreams ›
The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson—probably the worst speaker in American history—shut down the House early this week before its five-week vacation. He wants to avoid holding votes on releasing the Epstein files that reportedly include, among other notables, President Donald J. Trump.
This is the latest valet service provided by a spineless Johnson, a Trump toady, whose groveling has no known boundaries. Imagine Johnson, a lawyer, took an oath to uphold the Constitution yet has no interest in safeguarding the independence of the congressional branch of our government.
Like Trump, he falsely characterizes what is in the Trump corporate giveaway tax-budget bill that shattered the country’s social safety net for American families. No one has ever even dared to promote such a draconian tax bill. Our country’s safety net has had the support of both parties until the wrecking crew of Trump, Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) showed up.
Johnson declined to protect his own party members who were raising serious questions about Trump’s big, destructive bill. He allowed the Trumpsters to physically threaten these dissenters to get them back in line.
No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the executive branch remains the surrendering norm.
Most seriously, he has further crumpled the Founders’ system of checks and balances by turning the House of Representatives into an automatic rubber stamp for Trump. Johnson even refuses to allow his committee chairs to hold hearings on legislation Trump wants to ram through Congress. Johnson and his cronies do no oversight of the executive branch despite Trump’s vast violations and vicious cruelties, such as firing tens of thousands of key federal civil servants and further debilitating the resources of the Internal Revenue Service to collect taxes from the evasive super-rich and big companies. And the list goes on.
As The New York Times elaborated further with this description:
Mr. Johnson’s decision to shut down the House early was the latest example of how the speaker has in many ways ceded the chamber’s independence in order to please or avoid angering Mr. Trump. He has deferred to the president on matters large and small, including when it comes to Congress’ spending power. He quietly maneuvered this year to yield the House’s ability to weigh in on Mr. Trump’s tariffs, in order to spare Republicans from having to cast politically tricky votes on whether to end them.
The larger decline of Congress providing countervailing checks and balances reflecting the interests of the people, whose sovereign power under the Constitution has been delegated to it as a public trust, and has been eroded for decades. (See, “Congressional Surrender and Presidential Overreach” by Bruce Fein).
No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the executive branch remains the surrendering norm.
The consensus by the two parties extends to the minimal days that Congress is actually in session. The members take numerous vacations (they call them “recesses”). They see the weeks they work as starting on Tuesday and ending on Thursday. In between even those days, they are busy in fundraising offices dialing for campaign dollars.
With such limited workdays for a full-time, well-paying job, members of Congress have less time for hearings to investigate wrongdoing, waste, and neglect of actions in the executive branch or the dubious ethical practices in the federal judiciary and federal prosecutors’ offices.
Increasingly, it is nearly impossible for informed citizens to secure congressional hearings and be invited as witnesses, as was the case in the 60s and 70s. Congress is, however, “open for business” if you represent big corporations. Congress has built a cocoon around itself with a sign reading: Business Lobbyists Only. People are bitterly complaining about their inability to get through to their senators or representatives if they are not big campaign contributors or from big business. (See, The Incommunicados by Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein).
The solution is obvious. The people back home must organize Congress Watch Groups—call it a crucial civic hobby (See: The Day the Rats Vetoed Congress)—and establish a tradition of formally summoning their wayward lawmakers to the people’s Town Meetings with the people’s agendas on the table (See, Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think, City Lights Books).
There are many overdue changes and reforms backed by large majorities of liberal and conservative voters to make Watchdog Groups a formidable force. One percent of the voters can change Congress, especially because the necessities of the People are widely and strongly supported by millions of voters.
- 'This Is Cowardice': House GOP Sneakily Tries to Shield Trump Tariff Powers ›
- 'Cowardly' and 'Spineless': 10 Dems Join House GOP to Censure Al Green for Disrupting Trump Speech ›
- Critics Bury 'Coward' Mike Johnson for Excusing Trump's Sewage-Spewing AI Video | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | The Spinelessness of Thune and Johnson Is Destroying American Democracy | Common Dreams ›