BURSTSen. John Kennedy (R-La.) called on President-elect Trump to visit the nation’s capital to unite the GOP over the controversial funding bill.
"There's one person that can control the Republican caucus in the United States House of Representatives right now, and that's Donald J. Trump," he said on Fox News on Thursday.
Kennedy said the bill has caused a metaphorical “multiple vehicle pileup" on Capitol Hill that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has not been able to handle alone. He added that this wasn’t Johnson’s fault, since the Republican Party was full of “free range chickens,” but that Trump’s presence was necessary to get things back on track.
“Let's face it, he's the president now. It's not President Biden,” he said. “President Trump needs to sit down with Mike Johnson and [Sen.] John Thune [R-S.D.] and come up with a new skinny CR.”
The bill unveiled Tuesday evening combines an extension of government funding through March 14 with other measures such as disaster assistance for hurricane damage, assistance for farmers, a health care deal that includes reforms to the pharmacy benefit manager industry and an increase in pay for members of Congress.
Johnson has come under enormous criticism from Republicans over his handling of the continuing resolution (CR), just two weeks before House Republicans are to vote on whether to keep him in his position.
He can only afford a defection or two in that vote and be elected Speaker by a majority of the House.