US House Speaker Mike Johnson survived an attempt Thursday to oust him from office, but his future as leader of the Republican caucus is uncertain, Reuters reports.
Johnson was a little-known member of the House until October, when he emerged from a gruelling leadership battle following his predecessor’s ouster in a powerful role as the top Republican in Congress and second in line for the presidency after the vice president.
On Wednesday, he overcame an attempt by Republican Marjorie Taylor Green to oust him as speaker by winning the support of a 217-213 House majority and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. To prevent a repeat of October’s chaos, many Democrats also voted for Johnson.
Since becoming speaker, Johnson has abandoned the narrow views of a relatively inexperienced congressman from northwest Louisiana serving his fourth term in the House and embraced the political realities of national leadership. That evolution has angered enough party hardliners to seriously diminish his chances of remaining House Republican leader next year, regardless of whether the party retains its majority in November’s elections. Johnson said after Wednesday’s vote:
I’m proud to serve in this position. It’s not one that I aspired to. It’s not one that I ever expected to have or planned for. But it is the honor of my life and career to do this, and I will do it so long as this body will have me do that.
When he won the Speaker’s gavel in October 2023, he was considered an inexperienced candidate with no political enemies who opposed US aid to Ukraine, supported strict border restrictions and brought strong Christian conservative ideas to bear on culture war issues such as abortion.
He also played a leading role in House Republicans’ objections to the results of the 2020 presidential election following Trump’s false claims that he lost to Democratic President Joe Biden because of voter fraud. Those claims and the support they received from Republicans in Congress triggered a deadly attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
As speaker, Johnson has come to rely on Democrats to help him avoid a government shutdown, protect US counterterrorism efforts, help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion – and now keep his job. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican centrist from Pennsylvania:
He learned that there’s another side to the story. That’s what leaders do. They don’t get hung up on their position.
Johnson spent hours in closed-door meetings this week listening to demands from Green and her hard-line ally Rep. Thomas Massie, and later told reporters that the meetings were part of his open-door strategy to preserve the Republican conference by spending “endless hours” talking to members. Johnson said:
It takes a lot of time. This is why I don’t get enough sleep these days. You have to quite literally get everyone to work together. I take Marjorie’s ideas and Thomas’ and everybody else’s, and we assess them on their own value.
Johnson’s work on spending bills and aid to US allies has earned him favourable reviews from Republicans as well as some Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Some Republicans believe his credibility as a party leader has been undermined by support from Democrats who last year had a chance to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, known for his fundraising abilities and political acumen. One House Republican who spoke on condition of anonymity said:
He’s a better speaker for them than some of the other options, not because he’s willing to work with them, but because you can outflank him.
That Republican lawmaker, who voted to keep Johnson’s job this week, said Democrats see Johnson’s core conservative qualities as a plus for November, a point emphasised by progressive Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She told reporters:
Mike Johnson is still a dangerous leader who seeks to strip abortion rights and who also supported overturning the election and setting the stage for Jan. 6.
