Fallout coming for House GOP over Trump's rug pull on Stefanik
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Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) testifies before a Senate committee on her nomination to be UN ambassador on Jan. 21. It was pulled Thursday. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
President Trump's dramatic rug pull of Rep. Elise Stefanik's (R-N.Y.) UN ambassador nomination has given House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a new series of headaches.
Why it matters: Johnson has to reassure GOP lawmakers after their president said he's nervous about a Trump +20 district.
- He also must reintegrate Stefanik, who was planning to bolt town next week, into a leadership lineup that's full.
- Stefanik was crushed and scrambled to reverse Trump's decision before he announced it on Truth Social, according to people familiar with the matter.
- But for Trump, the margins were too close for comfort.
Driving the news: In explaining his decision, Trump undercut the NRCC line that there was no risk of the GOP losing any special elections this year.
- "With a very tight Majority, I don't want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise's seat," Trump said on Truth Social.
- Republicans are "afraid they will lose the special election to replace her," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Thursday.
What we're hearing: Stefanik's congressional staff has mostly resigned. She surrendered her slot on the House Intelligence Committee and had one foot out of Washington. Her Instagram was a showcase of that extended goodbye.
- She'll have to slink back to the House and reintegrate herself into Johnson's leadership structure, even as Trump dangled the possibility of joining his administration down the line.
- Inside the White House, there's a view that under Trump there isn't necessarily a need for an ambassador to the United Nations, according to a person familiar with the matter.
In a first, Democrats were tripping over themselves to agree with Trump.
- "Republicans and Donald Trump knew they were on track to lose the special election because of their deeply unpopular, disastrous agenda," said DCCC spokesperson Courtney Rice.
- "A few weeks ago, they were too scared to face voters at town halls. Now, they are so scared they can't even face voters at the polls."
- Republicans insisted there was no risk of losing Stefanik's seat. "We'd win this seat in a special election and we'll win it in a general election," said NRCC spokesperson Maureen O'Toole.
Zoom out: The problem of tight margins in the House was imminently foreseeable. Axios wrote about Trump's obsession with poaching House members in early December.
- "They just realized that now?" quipped Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Thursday.
- In November, Johnson said Trump "fully understands and appreciates the math here."
Zoom in: Stefanik, a rising star in her party, had her bags packed and was ready to move to New York.
- When Trump gave his joint address to Congress last month, Stefanik triumphantly sat with the Cabinet.
- Now she'll have to find her place with her House leaders and colleagues.
