What a mess!
Donald Trump has not even taken office, and there’s trouble in paradise. Speculation is rampant that Trump might not even have an inauguration. The incoming Congress is due to start on January 3, and one of their first orders of business is to elect a speaker. It seems that Republicans-including Donald Trump-are over Mike Johnson, and all indications are that he might not be Speaker of the House in the new term. Let the Republican chaos begin. The Daily Beast reported that if Congress doesn’t elect a speaker, the House cannot conduct any business, including certifying Trump’s election. The representatives cannot be sworn in without a speaker. Looking back at the last time Republicans needed a speaker after Matt Gaetz spearheaded the removal of Kevin McCarthy, craziness ensued. The failure of the House to come together on a speaker can lead to Constitutional chaos, as the presidential results must be certified by January 6. They ultimately have until January 20, when President Biden’s term ends. If certification doesn’t happen by then, we’ll basically have no president.
What happened to Mike Johnson? He has apparently fallen from grace. Several Republicans are against his return, and Hakeem Jeffries has already said that Democrats won’t save him. As much as he has been stuck under Donald Trump, you would think he can save Johnson, but according to Raw Story, Trump is no longer so enamored of Johnson. Former Republican rep Carlos Curbelo appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and he said that Johnson may keep his job by default as the party has no credible replacement. Curbelo also said that the only reason Johnson got elected in the first place is that he didn’t have any strong enemies. With their very slight majority in the House, Johnson cannot lose many votes and retain the speakership, but Johnson seems like “small potatoes” with everything else that’s happening.
Trump has no power of discernment. He has surrounded himself with a bunch of people who aren’t getting along, and they are creating additional chaos for Trump. People are angry at Vivek Ramaswamy because of his suggestion that H-1B visas be used for specialized workers. Trump has also appointed Sriram Krishnan as his AI policy adviser, and Laura Loomer-who was on the campaign trail with Trump-called the appointment “deeply disturbing” and posted that the United States “was built by white Europeans, not third-world invaders from India.” That comment set off Elon Musk, who said that the U.S. doesn’t have enough “super talented, super motivated” engineers. Musk went on to say that Loomer was merely “trolling for attention.” Musk benefitted from the H-1B program to get here, so of course he’s in favor of it. Now, Musk has been called out by Steve Bannon, who believes the H-1B program should be wiped out. According to Bannon, the program is “used to constantly drive down wages and replace American tech workers, while the foreign workers are treated like indentured servants.” What a mess. Trump needs to get control of his people. Otherwise, his administration will be mired in chaos.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years