Speaker Johnson floats using reconciliation to address alleged fraud in blue states

DORAL, Fla. – Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday floated the idea of passing a sweeping spending package aimed at targeting what he described as fraud, waste and abuse in Democratic-led states.

Johnson said during a news conference at the House Republican retreat in Doral that he’s been a “champion for reconciliation as one of the important tools in the toolbox.”

“I think that we can come together and envision a Venn diagram as I do – what are those handful of issues that are in the center of those concentric circles that is something that every Republican can agree on, that is great things for the country,” Johnson said. 

“I think the central theme of all this is we’re going to continue…working to lower the cost a bit for everyone because it’s a central issue, and also to stand up fraud, waste, abuse, and you’ve seen the fraud that’s been put on display in states like Minnesota. California is being audited for some of their fraud, some of the big blue states, I think they’ve got serious problems. We can use potentially reconciliation as a vehicle to address some of that as well,” he added.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee just last week grilled Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) over their handling of a fraud scandal within Minnesota’s social services programs. 

President Trump has made the scam, and the fact that many of those convicted were of Somali descent, central to his immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. And in his State of the Union address last month, he announced a broader “war on fraud.”

Reconciliation packages are often used by the majority party in Congress because they can get around a Senate filibuster, which generally requires 60 votes.

But another reconciliation package faces an uphill climb in the House, where Johnson is navigating a razor-thin majority and a divided conference.

“I’m going to guess for you, Democrats are not going to help us on that, because they’re the ones that have been covering for fraud. Some of these things we have to do on our own, so to speak, as a partisan priority, and reconciliation is to be able to do that,” Johnson said. 

Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday that passing a second reconciliation bill is “extremely rare and difficult.”

“In that first one, we had to thread a needle like you could not imagine, trying to balance all the different personalities and opinions,” he said. 

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