They say it’s best not to count your chickens before they’ve hatched, but in this instance, it seemed appropriate to accord House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a well-deserved victory lap ahead of the final House vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).
Following Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) record-setting eight-and-a-half-plus hour marathon of mendacity, during which all manner of epithets were hurled at the OBBB in the Democrats’ hopeless effort to delay the inevitable vote, “Magic Mike” took to the podium and availed himself of his own “Magic Minute” to address the House ahead of the final vote.
Indeed, it was closer to 20 minutes, but Johnson made the most of it, beginning with some much-welcomed humor when he kicked it off by plunking a giant binder down on the podium, as though he were preparing to match (or outlast) Jeffries.
Attempting to excerpt Johnson’s remarks and do them justice will fall short. When and if a full transcript of the remarks becomes available, I’ll include it here, and the full speech may be viewed here. (It’s cued up to the point where my fellow Missourian and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith speaks briefly to introduce Johnson.)
For now, I’ll simply share a few key highlights from the latter portion of his speech.
“It makes no difference whether our colleagues across the chamber speak for 25 minutes or 25 hours — they can’t change the truth. And today, today was about performance for some of them. But today, for u,s is about results — results that improve the lives of Americans, regardless of their race, religion, color, or creed. It does not matter.
“I tell you what: Ronald Reagan used to remind us you can always trust the American people, and we do trust the American people — and they can discern the difference. What they saw on display here today is that Democrats deliver performances and Republicans deliver results.”
Following some jeers from the Democrats, Johnson brought the focus back where it belongs:
“So, listen, seriously, as friends and colleagues, really, across the aisle, what we celebrate tomorrow is the nation’s birthday. Let’s put the politics aside for a minute, and let’s reflect on our blessings — no kidding, really. Tomorrow is the 249th birthday of our nation — [this elicited a ‘Wooo!’ from the Democrats’ side of the chamber] — that’s right. [Republican members seated behind Johnson stood and began clapping and chanting USA; though off-camera, it appears that at least some of the Democrats joined in on this.]
“I mean this sincerely, I thank my colleagues for standing – we all should be united in that. We are, we are. We have squabbles, we have partisan debates and all of this, but at the end of the day, we’re all Americans, man. And we’ve gotta believe that, we’ve gotta know it, we’ve gotta recognize that we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world — it’s not even close.
“My friends and colleagues, we are so blessed, we should not take it for granted. We live in the most free, the most successful, the most powerful, the most benevolent nation that has ever been on the face of the Earth. And there’s a reason for that — the reason that we are the greatest nation is because we were built on the ultimate foundation. And the bold Declaration that my friend Hakeem Jeffries articulated earlier is true. We unite under that. The bold Declaration that we do hold these truths to be self-evident. What is a self-evident truth? It’s something that’s obvious. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — it does not say ‘born equal,’ it says ‘created equal.’ And…it is our creator that gives us our rights.
“See? The powerful thing about that is we’re the first nation in the history of the world that acknowledged that our rights do not derive from government — they come from God himself. You see those words up there — that motto — it says ‘In God We Trust,’ right above the Speaker’s rostrum. You know, a previous Congress put that there in the early sixties….Congress voted to put that there as a rebuke to the Soviets’ worldview at the height of the Cold War. Why? Because communism, socialism, find their root in Marxism, and Marxism begins with the belief that there is no God. It’s wrong.”
And then, he brought it home:
“This Congress made a stand those many years ago, and we should do it again — we’re different, we’re distinct, we’re exceptional, because we acknowledge that right there, our motto. It doesn’t say ‘In Government We Trust,’ it says ‘In God We Trust.’ And we better remember that. He has blessed us with this grand experiment in self-governance now for almost two-and-a-half centuries, and by God’s grace, we are working hard, and we are delivering on our promise to Make America Great Again.
“This is, without a doubt, the most important vote of this Congress, and I think this may be the most important vote that any of us take in our entire lifetimes, and everybody better remember it, however you vote today. My friends, the president of the United States is waiting with his pen. The American people are waiting for this relief. We’ve heard enough talk. It’s time for action. Let’s finish the job for him. Vote yes on the bill.”
And so, they did — 218 Republicans dragged the OBBB across the finish line, in time to get it to President Trump’s desk to sign on the Fourth of July.
To them, and in particular, to House GOP leadership, and to Magic, Miracle Mike, I have this to say:
