Trump never told Republicans that he was going to offer $5,000 checks to every American if Republicans keep the House and Senate. Trump can’t issue the checks on his own, and needs congressional approval, which means that it would have been a really good idea for him to discuss this plan with the Republican majorities in the House and Senate first.

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Trump didn’t do that. Instead, he promised the checks. Republicans in Congress said the scheme was dead before it ever got started, and now Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to do damage control, as his House majority is about to be washed away.

NBC News’s Kristen Welker asked Johnson, “President Trump made a promise that he would send $5,000 to every American if Republicans hold onto the House and the Senate. Is that a plan you support, Mr. Speaker?”

Johnson answered with a long winded song and dance that concluded with:

What the president is brainstorming about is ways to further incentivize and grow the economy and make sure that Americans keep more of their hard-earned dollars

So that’s an idea, a new one, an idea that we’ll process through Congress and talk through and debate and discuss. But we’re going to continue on this pace of an incredible record of achievement, also in addition to the economy of course.

Kristen Welker would not stop asking about the checks, because Johnson would not answer.