Speaker Johnson’s Chief of Staff arrested after Trump address to Congress

Republicans have no room for error right now, but they keep shooting themselves in the foot.

The latest example is the arrest of the Chief of Staff for Speaker Johnson (R-LA).

According to reports, he was arrested on DUI charges not long after Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress.

Arrested

Johnson’s Chief of Staff is Hayden Haynes, who reportedly hit a parked vehicle at the Capitol around 11:40 p.m. local time.

He was arrested, given a citation to appear in court, and released. He has been Johnson’s Chief of Staff since Johnson was first voted in during the vote that preceded the ouster of Speaker McCarthy in October 2023.

The United States Capitol Police (USCP) confirmed Haynes’ arrest, stating, “A driver backed into a parked vehicle last night around 11:40 p.m. We responded and arrested them for DUI.”

Johnson was made aware of the incident, but his office immediately released a statement supporting Haynes to continue in his role as Chief of Staff.

His office stated, “The Speaker is aware of the encounter that occurred last night involving his Chief of Staff and the Capitol Police.

“The Speaker has known and worked closely with Hayden for nearly a decade and trusted him to serve as his Chief of Staff for his entire tenure in Congress.

“Because of this and Hayden’s esteemed reputation among Members and staff alike, the Speaker has full faith and confidence in Hayden’s ability to lead the Speaker’s office.”

In the overall scheme of things, this should be a nothing burger, especially if it is his first offense, but we all know things are not normal right now.

Republicans are and always have been held up to a higher standard than Democrats, so I would expect the Dems to pounce on this and start hammering Johnson’s office to get Haynes to resign.

It does not sound like Johnson is even considering that, so let’s see how this all plays out, or if with everything going on with Trump, the Dems let this one fall through the cracks.

There is a really good chance of that happening, especially since Democrats seem more interested in making TikTok videos documenting themselves walking out of the speech than in actual governing.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) is among those who have been blowing up social media with videos of the speech as well as her little dance videos.

These people are not serious, and I am referring to members on both sides of the aisle. Half of Congress seems to be fossils, and the other half is making TikTok videos.

Political theater, my friends… nothing more.