What To Know
- Alyssa Farah Griffin predicted that more Republican resignations and a loss of the House majority are likely before the next midterm elections.
- The other cohosts agreed that Congressional Republicans have lost power and influence by failing to assert themselves as a coequal branch and by not providing oversight of the Trump White House.
- Griffin also forecasted that if Democrats regain the House, some Trump administration officials may resign due to the return of Democratic oversight authority.
Alyssa Farah Griffin became something of a political soothsayer on Wednesday’s (November 26) edition of The View.
After Joy Behar introduced a clip of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy warning that Marjorie Taylor Greene is possibly just the first of many Congressional resignations to come from his party, she asked the panelists if they agreed with his assessment.
To that, Griffin responded in the affirmative, pointing to a Punchbowl News report that predicted Mike Johnson will lose his speakership, while the Republicans will lose the majority before the midterm elections even begin. “So keep in mind that the midterms aren’t until next November. There’s still a year left. Marjorie Taylor Greene stepping down before then bringing the House majority to just basically one vote over what they need to pass anything. And I think it’s bigger than the Trump factor of it, though there’s tremendous frustration with the White House — Congress feels like all of their authority has gone there; they don’t have any say in things — but I also think it’s that Republicans see the writing on the wall,” Griffin explained. “Democrats are favored on a generic ballot in the midterms by 14 points.” She also said that some Congresspersons have described their current roles as being like “a potted plant” due to their lack of power.
Ana Navarro agreed. “I think that the reason they feel like potted plants is because they are potted plants because they have ceded their authority. They have forgotten Republicans in Congress that they are an independent, co-equal branch of government, and so look, don’t complain about being treated like garbage when you behave like garbage,” she said. “Don’t complain about being trampled upon when you behave like an old rug. They have issued no oversight over Trump’s abuses of power, no pushback, no guardrails, and so yes, why wouldn’t Trump ignore them and treat them like garbage? He knows that they are feckless, fickle Congresspeople who will rubberstamp any hare-brained abuse of power idea.”
Sunny Hostin echoed Navarro’s comments, saying, “The issue is not so much that Congress is not a coequal branch of government. This president has overreached so much that they have been left with no ability to oversee the executive branch or oversee anything. They weren’t able to pull off the Affordable Care Act subsidies. They haven’t really been able to do anything because Trump doesn’t allow them to do anything, and the Supreme Court has said it’s OK.”
Navarro then offered, “They have the ability. They just don’t have the willingness to confront Trump.”
Sara Haines also contended that the effect of this appearance of powerlessness against Trump in Congress turns good candidates away from running. “They want to impress upon young people, they have all these dreams, and then the administration crumbles them down into the ground and squishes them. And that’s what happens here. You’ve got good people going with big thoughts, and the bureaucracy, the fecklessness, the lack of leadership, the skewed lines, the inconvenient truth of a constitution, you can’t do anything,” she said.
Haines then asked the others what will happen if and when Democrats seize the House majority, and Griffin then offered another prediction.
“A lot of Trump administration officials raised their hand to serve when he was sworn in in January, but the closer it gets to Dems likely taking the House back, I think you’re going to see some administration resignations because Democrats will once again have oversight authority,” she said.
The View, Weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC