House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) responded sharply to Democrats on Tuesday during a press conference, criticizing their recent calls for the “rule of law” after years of overlooking former President Joe Biden’s policies, which he described as lawless. Johnson sarcastically acknowledged the Democrats' sudden embrace of legal principles, highlighting their hypocrisy.
Johnson expressed skepticism over the Democratic Party’s newfound emphasis on the “rule of law.” He suggested it would have been commendable if the left had embraced this principle earlier. Still, he criticized them for spending the past four years “with their heads buried in the sand” while Biden undermined the rule of law without opposition.
“In fact, many Democrats cheered that lawlessness, like when the Biden administration unconstitutionally forced the middle class to pay the student loans of doctors and lawyers, when they illegally mandated that private companies implement vaccine requirements, when they radically rewrote Title IX to undermine women’s rights,” Johnson said.
Johnson accused Democrats of supporting illegal actions carried out by the Biden administration and the former president's family while failing to oppose those actions.
On the other hand, Democrats have called President Donald Trump’s wave of sweeping so-called “unconstitutional Executive Orders” illegal. Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA) accused Trump of having “no concern for the law, law enforcement, or anyone but himself.”
Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) claimed Trump’s newly signed executive orders are “dismantling our democracy” and “strip[ing] away constitutional rights.” She accused the president of taking some of the "most dangerous actions" she has witnessed from any president.
However, Johnson defended Trump, saying he “is taking legitimate executive action to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in all these federal programs”— what Americans voted for: “real analysis and transformational change.”
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“The only people who take issue with it are these same Congressional Democrats who never before had any issue with unelected staff or even bureaucrats running the White House for the last four years,” he continued. “That’s not what’s happening here.”
🚨 BOOM. MIC DROP.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 11, 2025
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: The Democrats have now latched onto a new shiny object called the 'rule of law.' We welcome them to the concept... it would be admirable if they hadn't spent the last 4 years with their heads buried in the sand while Biden trampled the… pic.twitter.com/5HYEiWJKIh
Johnson's comments come amid pushback from federal courts to Elon Musk's Department of Efficiency (DOGE), demanding that they "step back" and "allow these processes to play out."
Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance reminded judges they aren't "allowed to control the executive's legitimate power."-- and Johnson "wholeheartedly" agreed. The speaker applauded the "very exciting" work DOGE is conducting, adding that it's what Congress has been unable to do in past years.
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