Scoop: Trump's protectors push Johnson for House vote
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House conservatives are pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for a vote on legislation aimed at showing their allegiance to former President Trump after his historic criminal conviction, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Trump's House allies are prepping a full-throttled defense of the ex-president, including going after the Justice Department — a move that could put the party's vulnerable members in a difficult spot.
- Conservatives want a floor vote on a bill that would allow current or former presidents to move any state case brought against them — such as the one in New York that resulted in Trump's conviction — to federal court, according to multiple House Republican sources.
- Meanwhile, Johnson told Republicans in a conference meeting Tuesday that the House GOP will target DOJ through attempts at increased oversight, funding cuts and other means, according to a source in the room.
The big picture: Trump's conviction by a Manhattan jury has spurred Republicans to rush to his defense, but it's still unclear what legislation leadership will put forward.
- House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Monday floated cutting federal funding for state prosecutors investigating Trump and defunding the federal investigations into the former president.
- Johnson last week called for the U.S. Supreme Court to "step in" to overturn the guilty verdict.
- A group of conservative Republican senators have also signed onto a pledge to seek to block floor action in response to the conviction.
Trump is facing more state-level charges in Georgia, where he and others are charged in a racketeering case based on an alleged scheme to overturn that state's 2020 election results.
- Theoretically, if the bill House conservatives are pushing were signed into law, Trump would be allowed to move the Georgia case from state to federal court. If he was convicted and got elected president again, he could try to pardon himself. Presidents can't pardon state convictions.
- That bill already has cleared the Judiciary Committee, making it an easy option for leadership to bring to the House floor quickly.
- Johnson became a co-sponsor of the bill less than a month before he became House speaker last fall.
Yes, but: A House Republican close to Johnson told Axios that a floor vote on the bill is "unlikely at the moment."
- A floor vote on the measure could put moderate Republicans in a jam. They'd be forced to choose between crossing Trump and his allies or taking a position that might be unpopular in their districts.
- Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) told Axios that he is "not a big fan of changing jurisdictions" of cases through federal legislation.
- Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) said Congress has to "respect federalism."
- Both represent districts Biden won in 2020.
Reality check: Even if the House were to pass the bill, it doesn't stand a chance of being considered in the Democrat-controlled Senate, let alone signed into law by President Biden.
Johnson's team did not respond to a request for comment.
