Speaker Johnson's very unclean CR gives new powers to Trump and makes the rest of us less safe.
Senate Democrats must refuse to go along
Mike Johnson has one constituent, Donald Trump, and he serves him with his whole soul. Look no further than the supposedly “clean” continuing resolution the House passed last week. Johnson told us his GOP passed a resolution to keep the government open. That’s false. What they passed in the name of keeping the government open is a bill that gives additional powers to Mr. Trump, legalizes corruption, continues the destruction of government, and puts us all in danger.
The funding bill was hardly “clean.” Bundled with it is bill to repeal regulation of decentralized asset brokers. Those are the people who sell digital currencies and other blockchain dependent assets to the public. As Rep. Brad Schneider said, this will “push more people to conduct crypto trading… and attract nefarious actors to fund illicit activities.” The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that repealing the regulation will cost taxpayers $3.8 billion.
Why bundle crypto into the CR? Because reporters are going to say that the House passed a bill to keep the government open. Seriously, you have to look hard to find any information about the deregulation of crypto sales. And Donald Trump wants to be the king of crypto. His family is in the business. It is a favorite financing mechanism for those who want money to flow untraced. Johnson figured, correctly, that he could do Trump a solid and get this bill passed without scrutiny. Never mind that America just got both poorer and more corrupt.
Johnson passed the bill by engaging in the kind of doublespeak you expect from an apparatchik. He tells the public the GOP bill will keep the government open. But he made clear to his colleagues that funding the government doesn’t mean spending the funds on government. The bill pretends to fund agencies that DOGE is gutting. When asked about that, Johnson says “DOGE efforts and other things that are happing in the administration are very important for the American people, because ultimately what we’re going to be able to do is downsize the size and scope of the federal government.” So, pass a bill to fund the government, but let someone else decide how not to spend that money?
Sound like the kind of doublespeak we used to hear from the old Soviet Union. But even they would be amazed by the other provision bundled into the bill.
Johnson’s CR includes this: “Each day for the remainder of the first session of the 119th Congress shall not constitute a calendar day for the purposes of section 202 of the National Emergencies Act.”
That’s right, a day is not a day anymore.
Why is that in the bill? Ostensibly to protect Congress from having to vote on unpopular tariffs. Congress, not the president, has the power to impose tariffs unless a national emergency is declared. Trump declared a national emergency and took the power to impose tariffs. The National Emergencies Act, gives presidents this and other powers. But to protect the nation from tyrants, it also has an out clause. When such an emergency is declared, Congress can end it. The law stipulates that if a bill to terminate an emergency is introduced, Congress must take it up on an expedited basis. Committees have 15 days to report the bill, and the full body has three calendar days to vote on it.
Mr. Trump declared a national emergency to impose his tariffs. Democrats have filed a termination bill. The clock started ticking. So, Mr. Johnson added to the CR a provision that a day no longer count as a day to stop the clock.
This is bad. Very bad. Because tariffs are not the only thing Mr. Trump can impose in a national emergency. He can sell off federal buildings and land without public bids. He can convert an agency function to a contractor function without competition. That’s a dream come true for a corrupt deal maker. He can criminalize the gathering of information about our national defense. He can suspend any laws relating to promotion or firing of any military officers. He can appoint any officer in Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, up to major general or rear admiral.
These and other powers make it possible to create a cult of personal loyalty in our armed services, just like the one we now have in Congress.
Every Senate Democrat must vote no on the Mr. Johnson’s very unclean CR.