Speaker Mike Johnson has once again lost a battle against hardline conservatives for control of his own House floor — and he has no clear way out.
A small group of GOP hardliners, led by firebrand Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, effectively seized the floor from Johnson this week, refusing to allow him to move on their own party’s priorities until Republican leaders come up with a plan to pass President Donald Trump’s federal elections overhaul bill.
By Tuesday afternoon, Johnson was forced into one of the most humiliating possible positions for a House speaker: He conceded he could not regain control of the chamber and instructed members to leave Washington early. It’s the second straight week that GOP leaders have had to scrap their plans, this time losing out on nearly an entire week’s agenda.
He was picked precisely because he’s a spineless, vulnerable back bencher.
He doesn’t fundraise well enough to threaten party members with money. He doesn’t have a large popular base of support within the public. And he doesn’t even play well with the billionaire class to get Elon Musk to yell at people for him.
The only reason he hasn’t been tossed out like Paul Ryan or Kevin McCarthy is because there’s nobody to replace him.