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Mike Johnson Stares Down A Year Of Chaos

The House Speaker has to navigate a conference divided over whether to fight now or live to fight another day.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La.
Speaker Mike Johnson at the Capitol. Mariam Zuhaib/AP

It’s only mid-January, but House Republicans are already tired of this year and dysfunction is high. For Speaker Mike Johnson, the rest of 2024 doesn’t look much better — and election season is quickly approaching.

“Everything has looked bad right from the beginning,” Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, said between puffs of his cigar after a group of conservatives tanked a simple procedural vote last week. “Everything has looked bad. If we lose the House, we’ve earned it.”

Democrats have repeatedly bailed out Republican leaders on the most basic matters Congress faces, like avoiding a debt ceiling catastrophe and keeping the government funded. On Thursday they did it again when 207 of them voted alongside 107 Republicans to punt a shutdown deadline until March. (The final vote was 314-108).