Overview
- The House has been out for roughly 25 days as Speaker Mike Johnson says he will not reconvene until the Senate advances a spending bill.
- Two people told the New York Times that President Donald Trump joked in private that he is both “the speaker and the president,” underscoring his sway over House strategy.
- Republicans oppose extending the expiring health-care subsidies at the center of the dispute, while Democrats insist any funding measure must include an extension.
- Trump has voiced opposition to extending the subsidies, a stance Johnson has supported despite growing divisions within the House Republican Conference.
- A New York Times analysis by Annie Karni argues Johnson’s deference to Trump and prolonged recess risk further weakening the speakership and Congress’s institutional power, with allies describing the recess as a tactic to avoid mixed messages; former Speaker Newt Gingrich publicly endorsed that caution.