The Washington Wizards have the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. The Senate is back in session today. The House returns Tuesday following a brief but historic recess.
House Republicans got two monumental legal wins that could help them limit their losses in November — or even help them keep their endangered majority. More on that in a moment.
President Donald Trump will head to China this Tuesday in what could be a hugely consequential trip amid the U.S. war with Iran. He’ll meet in person with Xi Jinping for the first time in almost seven months.
Trump is bringing a group of CEOs to Beijing as he seeks progress on trade and economic issues. What the president really needs is Xi’s help in ending the chaotic Iran war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump rejected an Iranian offer on Sunday. But what will Xi want for that, and what does it mean for the rest of the globe, particularly Taiwan? The House will pass a resolution this week pressing Trump to bring up political prisoners with Xi, including jailed activist Jimmy Lai.
**Johnson and Jeffries.**But we start this week, as we often do during the 119th Congress, with Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The two leaders enter this two-week session — yes, they’re out for another 11 days for Memorial Day — with drastically shifting fortunes.
When Johnson left Washington for the week-long recess, he was coming off a bruising legislative period during which House Republicans were able to squeeze through an immigration-related budget resolution, a short-term FISA extension and a farm bill. It was a win for Johnson, although a limited one.
Yet the strong sense was that House Republicans would lose their majority.
Democrats had fought Republicans to a draw in the national redistricting battle. GOP retirements are at a record high. Trump’s approval ratings are in the 30s, devastating for vulnerable House Republicans. Trump’s deeply unpopular war with Iran shows no sign of ending anytime soon. Inflation and affordability are the country’s biggest political issues, and gas prices are now above $4.50 per gallon nationwide.
Johnson and GOP congressional leaders haven’t done anything on healthcare even as millions of Americans lose their coverage. GOP Reps. Cory Mills (Fla.), Chuck Edwards (N.C.) and Max Miller (Ohio) all face serious ethics or personal problems that are getting national headlines.
Yet the Supreme Courts in Washington and Richmond changed the entire election cycle with two blockbuster decisions. For Johnson and House Republicans, this was a second chance, of sorts.
We told you that as many as 10 House seats were affected by these twin decisions, though the outcome remains very fluid. Tennessee Republicans eliminated DemocratSteve Cohen’s seat. Republicans are expected to gain at least one seat in Johnson’s home state of Louisiana. Alabama could yield two GOP seats if SCOTUS clears the way. South Carolina Republicans may try to get rid of longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn’s seat. A decision on that will come this week, though Clyburn says he can still get elected.
Johnson and House Republicans have accomplished little over the last 10 months, so this is a chance to change the narrative.
But it won’t be easy. All the ideological and intra-party tensions that divided the GOP conference remain despite the court decisions. House Republicans passed their version of the farm bill and have to reconcile it with the Senate. Hill Republicans are also going to try to pass three years of funding for ICE and CBP. This has become tangled up in a larger debate about approving $1 billion to secure Trump’s new ballroom. Republicans have a highway bill they want to mark up, as well as FY2027 appropriations bills they want to pass.
**Democratic blues.**For Jeffries, last week was devastating, both personally and politically.
Yet the New York Democrat always says that setbacks are nothing more than a setup for a comeback. And Jeffries has been defiant over the last few days.
Jeffries spoke separately over the weekend with Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Democrats in the Virginia congressional delegation about possible responses to the state Supreme Court decision, though nothing practical emerged from those conversations. Virginia Democrats say their best bet is to pour money and resources into winning at least two of the four districts they wanted to redistrict.
The Callais decision hit the Congressional Black Caucus hardest. This is the heart of Jeffries’ base among House Democrats. The CBC, the most powerful caucus in Congress, will now see its ranks thin over the next few years. Add that to generational conflicts inside the CBC — over seniority and other issues — and we may see a major shift in the caucus’s influence and makeup.
House Democrats are different from their GOP counterparts. Several rank-and-file Democrats have wondered whether Jeffries’ push in Virginia was ill-advised. But they won’t say it publicly — Republicans would relish publicly embarrassing their leaders. So we’ll see how Jeffries and other top House Democrats respond this week.