Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) didn’t mince words when he attributed the turmoil in the House to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and what he bluntly labeled as “seven useful idiots.” He asserted that their move to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last fall has directly led to the current challenges faced by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Lawler slammed members of his own party for undermining Johnson’s negotiating power in the ongoing dispute over aid to Ukraine and Israel. He made it clear that their actions have weakened Johnson’s position.
“Some of these folks have nobody to blame but themselves for why Speaker Johnson’s hand in negotiations has been weakened,” Lawler told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on “AC360” Thursday night. “It’s their actions that have done that.”
He continued, “I look at this very simply. In October, the House was thrown into chaos by Matt Gaetz and seven useful idiots that teamed up with him within the Republican Conference and 208 Democrats. And at this moment, when you see what happened in the aftermath of vacating the chair and Israel attacked in a terrorist attack a week later, to do that again would be detrimental to the country and global security.”
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As the House gears up for a Saturday vote on a crucial foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel, tensions are running high. Some Republicans, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (La.) and Thomas Massie (Ky.), have expressed frustration and hinted at support for a motion to remove Johnson from his position. Yet, they have not taken concrete steps to follow through on their threats.
Last fall, McCarthy was stripped of his speakership when Gaetz and seven other House GOP members joined forces with Democrats to oust him, resulting in a three-week paralysis of the lower chamber.
Lawler remained optimistic about the passage of foreign aid legislation in spite of the threats directed at Johnson.
“The foreign aid bill will pass,” Lawler told Cooper. “It must pass. “The United States has an obligation as leader of the free world to support our allies at this most critical juncture and to make it clear to our adversaries that we will not tolerate their actions and what they have done to undermine and destabilize the free world.”
