Mike Johnson’s olive branch

Speaker Mike Johnson is extending a high-profile olive branch to one of his biggest intra-party foes of the day: Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Johnson made her one of the impeachment managers as the House hands the reins of the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas to a less-than-excited Senate.

Just days ago, Greene was performatively threatening to oust Johnson hours before Congress headed into a multi-week recess. Now, she’s joining with a group of Republicans in asking Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to expeditiously schedule an impeachment hearing for Mayorkas.

It’s not just Greene who is obviously being helped out by Johnson with this announcement. Congresswoman Laurel Lee, who is facing a potential Trump-backed primary from Republicans like X influencer DC Draino, will have a high-profile opportunity to take the fight to the Biden administration here. 

Being an impeachment manager is a coveted position, and Greene’s selection in particular has rankled some veterans on the Hill, one of whom remarked, “If I thought bullying nerdy Mike Johnson would get us ahead around here, we would have stuffed him in his locker months ago.” Greene, who currently holds the sword of Damocles over Johnson, certainly has seen that she can get what she wants from him — for now, at least. 

Schumer currently sounds likely to, at minimum, convene the trial. Following the April 10 transmission of impeachment articles, Schumer said “denators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day.” But some, like Senator Ted Cruz, are concerned that Schumer will try “to break over 200 years of Senate precedent by tabling the impeachment trial.”

What happens in the Senate remains uncertain, but Johnson’s actions make it all but certain that MTG’s MTV won’t be going anywhere when Congress reconvenes.

-Matthew Foldi 

On our radar

THREE STOOGES Former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama joined President Biden for a New York City fundraiser that hauled in $26 million on Thursday night.

ONE YEAR OF CAPTIVITY It’s been one year since Russia arrested and imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, falsely accusing him of being a spy. 

MUSK V. AOC Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk drew ire from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for stating that Democrats are importing voters via illegal immigration. “You’re literally an immigrant,” AOC snarked in response. 

Biden book market goes bust

If you want your Biden book to be a bestseller, you’d better have Dr. Jill write it.

That’s the lesson from this week, as Simon & Schuster announced that it’s pulling a long-planned book on the Biden White House by Alex Thompson; adding insult to injury is how Simon & Schuster almost simultaneously rolled out a plan to publish a picture book by the First Lady called Willow the White House Cat.

In contrast with books about former president Donald Trump, the Biden book market is fairly tepid, which helps explain some of this decision — and also why journalists, on some level, know that they need Trump to win to save many of their professional hides. Serial fabulist Michael Wolff sold well over a million copies of his Trump books. Compare that to Biden books like The Long Alliance, which have sold fewer than 2,000 hardcover copies, per Politico. 

Thompson’s “comprehensive book on Biden’s presidency” just couldn’t compete with the action-packed saga of Willow, who also doubles as Joe Biden’s alarm clock.

The book’s plot sounds absolutely riveting, especially for a kid’s book. “When Willow leaves her cozy barn for Washington, DC, and the big white house where she will now live, Willow discovers new rooms to explore and is welcomed by the nice lady she met at Farmer Rick’s farm.” 

If only Dr. Jill had written a book about Commander Biden — now that would have been a doozy!

–Amber Duke

Youngkin shoots down gun bills

Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin has stood up for the Second Amendment by rejecting some thirty gun control bills the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature sent to his desk.

The Daily Wire outlines several of the bills Youngkin rejected; they include a ban on so-called “assault weapons,” legislation to criminalize gun possession at public colleges and another bill that would require people to submit their fingerprints to the FBI when applying for a concealed carry permit.

Youngkin did not veto all the firearm-related bills, however. According to the AP, Youngkin “[proposed] amendments to six gun bills and [signed] two pairs of identical bills that passed with broad bipartisan support… One of the pieces of legislation Youngkin signed would allow for parents to be charged with a felony under the state’s child abuse and neglect law if they allow a child to have access to a firearm after being notified the child poses a threat of violence.”

Youngkin, whom the National Rifle Association failed to endorse when he ran for government in 2021, said in a statement:

I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of Virginia, and that absolutely includes protecting the right of law-abiding Virginians to keep and bear arms.

–Teresa Mull

Is Bud Light alpha again?

The roughnecks at the Teamsters Union announced a boycott of Molson Coors this week, in solidarity with striking workers of the Local 997. They issued a flyer urging people to not buy brews such as Coors Light, Miller Light and Yuengling, as well as Topo Chico Hard Seltzer.

In organizing the boycott, the Teamsters point out that “there are alternative beers available from model employers, such as products brewed by Teamsters at Anheuser Busch” and lists them… including the recently troubled Bud Light.

“We respectfully ask that your office does its part and temporarily boycott Molson Coors products until the company comes to a fair collective bargaining agreement with Local 997 members, and instead buy your beer from employers like Anheuser Busch who treat their employees fairly,” James L. Donovan Jr. of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in an email.

Who knew that Dylan Mulvaney was a union guy…?

–Cockburn

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