A key to understanding Trump’s second presidency is recognizing that Donald Trump does not work alone.
The self-created mythology that the president puts forward is that he is a strong man. Trump has told his supporters for years that he alone can fix everything, but the source of his power is not something he has seized or done.
The key to Trump’s power is that Speaker Mike Johnson has gifted the power of an equal branch of government to the president.
The House of Representatives has been effectively closed down by Chairman Johnson and transformed into a body that sits sparingly and does even less. In 2025, the House was in session for 87 days and passed 46 bills. Not 46 important pieces of legislation, but a total of 46 pieces of legislation.
During the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency, the House passed 85 bills and 1,234 laws.
Mike Johnson claims that the House is conducting oversight and that its members have returned to work in their districts, but Republicans in the House of Representatives are increasingly using discharge requests to circumvent Johnson’s reluctance to let the House majority serve as anything other than a rubber stamp for Trump.
This time next year, the House of Representatives could again act as a check on the presidency if Democrats regain the majority.
On ABC’s This Week, former Speaker Pelosi discussed the state of the House of Representatives and what should be the top goal of a potential Democratic majority.
Pelosi was asked by ABC’s Jon Karl about blocking Trump and she responded:
Of course they have the power of the wallet. We have the power of the wallet. He can’t – but at this point, Republicans and Congress have abolished Congress. They just do what the president demands. That will be over.”
Read more and watch the video below.
