Happy new congressional year, House Speaker Mike Johnson! It’s day one of the new House session, and Johnson’s future is already a matter of speculation on Capitol Hill. It’s not entirely his fault. His predecessor in the office, Kevin McCarthy, gave the farm away to the extremists in order to secure the gavel—for about nine months. That put the radical minority in charge, setting the inexperienced Johnson up for failure.
The Republican maniacs in the House are at least predictable and are proving that it’s going to be as impossible for Johnson to lead them as it was for McCarthy. Apparently, the maniacs wanted a speaker who would make the reality of a Democratic Senate majority and White House irrelevant. And given that he hasn’t been able to overrule Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden, the right-wingers might be looking for the next guy. One “well-plugged-in House Republican” told Punchbowl News that the knives are coming out.
Significant concerns growing about Mike’s ability to jump to this level and deliver conservative wins. Growing feeling that he’s in way, way over his head. As much as there was valid criticism and frustration with Kevin, Mike is struggling to grow into the job and is just getting rolled even more than McCarthy did.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas seems to be leading the charge. The Freedom Caucus loudmouth went on CNN Monday to complain about Johnson and the deal he made with Schumer to keep the government open after the funding deadline on Jan. 19. “It’s just more of the same and, you know, I wish Speaker Johnson [wasn’t] doing this. I’m very disappointed and hopefully we can try to figure out what we can do to change it in the next few days,” Roy told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Asked if Johnson could face the same fate as McCarthy, Roy refused to rule it out, saying, “[T]hat’s not the road I prefer,” and “[W]e’ll see what happens this week.” That, as Collins pointed out, was not a “no.”
That threat to Johnson’s speakership is very real simply by virtue of Republicans’ shrinking majority in the House. As of now, on paper, Johnson has a 220-213 majority. However, Majority Leader Steve Scalise is out for all of January for medical reasons, and on Jan. 21, GOP Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio will resign to take a new job, meaning that for the end of this month, Republicans will have only 218 votes, and Johnson can only afford two defections and still prevail on legislation.
It’s bad enough that the House now has its least experienced speaker in 140 years, and worse that he inherited such chaos. But it’s made even worse by how much urgent business must soon be done—funding the government, sending aid to Ukraine, seeing our own country through an election in which democracy hangs in the balance. And the far-right House maniacs are once again toying with the idea of ousting him.
And yet the solution remains clear. This isn’t rocket science: If Johnson has any hope of succeeding as speaker—and keeping his job—he has to work with Democrats. That was true for McCarthy and would be true for any Republican speaker, but particularly this one.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the number of defections Speaker Mike Johnson can afford and still prevail on legislation.
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Rep. Chip Roy of Texas seems to be leading the charge. The Freedom Caucus loudmouth went on CNN Monday to complain about Johnson and the deal he made with Schumer to keep the government open after the funding deadline on Jan. 19. “It’s just more of the same and, you know, I wish Speaker Johnson [wasn’t] doing this. I’m very disappointed and hopefully we can try to figure out what we can do to change it in the next few days,” Roy told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Asked if Johnson could face the same fate as McCarthy, Roy refused to rule it out, saying, “[T]hat’s not the road I prefer,” and “[W]e’ll see what happens this week.” That, as Collins pointed out, was not a “no.”
That threat to Johnson’s speakership is very real simply by virtue of Republicans’ shrinking majority in the House. As of now, on paper, Johnson has a 220-213 majority. However, Majority Leader Steve Scalise is out for all of January for medical reasons, and on Jan. 21, GOP Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio will resign to take a new job, meaning that for the end of this month, Republicans will have only 218 votes—a two-vote majority.
It’s bad enough that the House now has its least experienced speaker in 140 years, and worse that he inherited such chaos. But it’s made even worse by how much urgent business must soon be done—funding the government, sending aid to Ukraine, seeing our own country through an election in which democracy hangs in the balance. And the far-right House maniacs are once again toying with the idea of ousting him.
And yet the solution remains clear. This isn’t rocket science: If Johnson has any hope of succeeding as speaker—and keeping his job—he has to work with Democrats. That was true for McCarthy and would be true for any Republican speaker, but particularly this one.
RELATED STORIES:
House Freedom Caucus is outraged government probably won’t shut down after all
Shutdown watch: An inexperienced zealot is in charge of the House. What could go wrong?
Speaker Johnson lays out his impossible agenda
Campaign Action
