Josh Hawley Nukes Speaker Johnson Over Government Shutdown Fight: ‘ An Embarrassment from Beginning to End’

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Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tore into House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday over his plan to keep the government funded.

“The speaker’s been an embarrassment from beginning to end, and the CR is the latest example of this. The CR is a total disaster. Why he continues to be elected as speaker is beyond me,” Hawley told Punchbowl News’s Max Cohen.

On Tuesday, Hawley shared a Fox News article about the GOP’s anger at Johnson’s continuing resolution and added, “This CR is an incredible embarrassment.” Johnson’s proposal would keep the government funded at current levels through March 14th, and also added just over $100 billion in additional spending on disaster relief for hurricane victims in the southeast.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), whose state of Georgia was impacted by the hurricanes earlier in the year, also slammed the proposal saying, “It’s not a CR, which is a continuation of the budget. It’s turning into an omnibus.”

Hawley’s attack on Johnson was boosted on the hard right by Steve Bannon, who praised Hawley as being at the forefront of “populist economics.” Bannon read Hawley’s quote on his WarRoom program and noted that in the past this kind of inter-party fighting in Congress was “verboten.” “House never criticized the Senate. Guys in the Senate never criticized the House guys. It was just kind of the one of the unspoken rules. But we live in different times, people,” Bannon said before praising Hawley’s take and slamming Johnson.

Political journalist Sam Stein summed up the current state of play regarding the GOP’s CR battle on Wednesday, writing:

Musk is fully against the CR and hammering at it
Vivek is agains the CR
Johnson has texted with both
Breitbart is urging the ouster of Johnson for the CR.
Romney is asking Trump to weigh in
Trump is silent

Watch the full WarRoom clip above.