Mike Johnson’s Problem
By FORREST ZENG ‘26
After the dramatic ousting of former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the speaker’s gavel in October 2023, all eyes were on the new Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Johnson had never held a significant leadership position in the chamber before his speakership. He filled a precarious role, trying to hold together a party that is splitting at its seams while simultaneously advance Republican initiatives.
Regardless of holding the actual chamber, the Grand Old Party faces two significant challenges in the House. First, the party has a razor thin hold on the House: five seats. This margin, though, is theoretically workable—but it lends itself to the second problem: “ultra-conservative” discontent.
Political parties bring together ideologically similar but not ideologically identical members together. Parties often have some degree of ideological diversity, but still vote and compete together in a unified bloc. In the Republican party, there is a small group of vocal hard-right members who are comparatively much more radical than the rest of the party. This ultraconservative minority includes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
Although the Republican party has a tenuous hold on the House that should nevertheless theoretically allow for few compromises with the Democrats, due to discontent in the far-right Republican caucus, the margin is realistically useless. Even though the majority of Republican representatives are willing to vote for Republican initiatives, it only takes five members of the ultra-conservataive aisle to shoot them down.
This has led Johnson, who is ideologically ultraconservative, to consistently use Democratic votes to pass bills in the chamber. Johnson’s fluid and conceding position has been criticized by many, especially by the same hard-liners who forced him into that position.
However, it’s clear that Johnson has few choices. Conceded bills, such as the recent foreign aid bill sending over $95 billion to allies such as Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel, seem more bipartisan than tactical.
But really, Johnson is taking the Realpolitik approach to this issue. The same radical group of representatives that ousted McCarthy haven’t made a concerted challenge to Johnson’s powers yet. Greene’s recent rhetoric about vacation seems to be an outlier—few ultraconservative Republicans, certainly not enough to pass the motion, appear to be following the same rhetoric.
Democrats have even expressed willingness to save McCarthy if a motion to vacate entered the floor. Perhaps recognizing that Johnson’s cooperation is useful for their agenda. Or, on a logistical level, that there are few weeks left in this Congress to be wasted undergoing a new McCarthy saga.
The truth is clear, though: the Republican Party does not have it together. The House might as well be Democratic. It’s up to Johnson to change that.
