Johnson's squeaker win for House speaker signals more Republican chaos ahead | Opinion
Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican elected House speaker more than 14 months ago in one of his party's notorious power convulsions, won that post again – but only after a delayed, squabbling vote.
President-elect Donald Trump spent the eight weeks since his November victory talking as if he is at the wheel of a Republican steamroller, with control now of both chambers of Congress and the White House.
A small band of Republicans in the U.S. House on Friday afternoon showed how easily that steamroller can get mired in wet cement.
Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican elected House speaker just a little more than 14 months ago in one of his party's notorious power convulsions, won that post again Friday with Trump's support – but only after a delayed, squabbling squeaker of a vote at the start of the 119th Congress.
That very public display of disjointed political theater had a long intermission, as nine of Johnson's Republican colleagues had to be cajoled into voting for him. That number nine will be important going forward.
Mike Johnson became House speaker after some GOP theater
The Republican intraparty fighting and chaos of the 118th Congress that led to the October 2023 ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was enabled by a House rule McCarthy conceded to 10 months earlier that year to win the post. That "motion to vacate" rule required just one member to call for a vote to oust a speaker.
Johnson's new House rules for the 119th Congress require one call from a member in the majority, the Republicans, backed by eight other members also in the majority.
So nine Republican votes in the House – where the party's power margin is whisper-thin – is the new margin for hard-right political hijinks to effectively hijack that party's legislative agenda. And history shows us that's very likely to happen.
The biggest conservative knock on Johnson? He sometimes passes legislation with Democrats. In a narrowly divided House, he makes deals.
It's the job – legislating – that House members get paid $174,000 a year to do. But a small minority of the majority would rather bring their workplace to a standstill – while still getting paid – than deign to work across the aisle.
That's the ticket to attention, which draws media coverage, which can be leveraged into campaign fundraising. Democrats have progressive players in that game, too, but they have shown far less appetite or capacity to derail the government they're paid to operate.
Democrats know Republicans will need help to govern
And Democrats sense the coming chaos.
Rep. Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic Caucus chair from California, on Friday opened his speech nominating for House speaker Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the party's minority leader from New York, with this line that drew oohs and boos: "Today, I rise on behalf of the governing majority of the House of Representatives."
Translation: You Republicans fight so much that you're going to need votes from Democrats to get anything done (which will lead to more Republican fighting).
Aguilar closed with a hard shot on Johnson, saying, "There's only one leader who knows how to negotiate a bipartisan deal – and then stick to that deal."
That's a reference to Johnson's politically embarrassing episode two weeks ago when he struck a deal with Democrats to support a funding bill to keep the government open and operating until mid-March. The House speaker then walked away from his own deal after Trump dropped in with a last-minute tantrum.
Still, Democrats saved Johnson with a revised, stripped-down agreement (that denied Trump's demands) and kept the government running. It shows why Republicans in the House still represent the biggest threat to their party's legislative agenda.
The news site Axios did the math and found that the Republican-controlled 118th Congress was the least productive in passing legislation since the 1980s. Among the causes: infighting, delays to replace the speaker and the distrust that all generates.
Look for Republicans who love melodramatic theater to revel in Johnson's close call Friday. Democrats clearly see openings in those rifts that can be exploited.
Electing a speaker has long been one of the easiest votes for a party in the majority, an administrative task that has to come before the House of Representatives can conduct any business.
Friday's final tally for Johnson, which came after nearly an hour of delay while he negotiated in a back room with the last two Republicans who put him over the top, shows that nothing will come easy to him and his party in the coming two years.
Follow Paste BN elections columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan