Johnson Weathers Shutdown Storm With Gavel Firmly in Hand

Speaker Mike Johnson took a risk by keeping the House of Representatives out of session during the country’s longest government shutdown. Republican lawmakers got their way after the weeks-long standoff, and some members of his conference are now, if grudgingly, tipping their cap to the speaker.

Johnson spent much of the first two years of his speakership weathering mutinies from within his fractured conference. The shutdown battle presented yet another opportunity for Johnson’s critics to question his leadership and decision to keep the House out of Washington or reject negotiations with Democrats to extend Affordable Care Act tax subsidies.

And yet even some of Johnson’s critics are now lavishly praising him.

“Mike Johnson has done a PHENOMENAL job of keeping our Republican Party informed and united,” Rep. Ralph Norman, a conservative who President Donald Trump had to persuade to support Johnson earlier this year, texted NOTUS.

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Ironically, Norman and many other conservatives started the year irate at Johnson for supporting a short-term government funding patch in December that extended Biden-era funding levels to March.

Although the latest government funding deal struck in the Senate includes a package of bills that would fund some of the government through the 2026 fiscal year, the agreement mostly extends those same funding levels passed in 2024. Johnson even lobbied for a continuing resolution through January that was longer than one through mid-December that was floating in the Senate.

While some Republican appropriators were adamant during the shutdown that Johnson bring back the House so they could work on more full-year bills, conservatives, such asNorman, remained publicly unfazed and supportive of the speaker’s decision to keep the House out as a way to pressure Senate Democrats. It was a strategy that took 50 days to bear fruit, but ultimately set up a shutdown endgame that did not include any obvious concessions from House Republicans.

Multiple Republicans lauded Johnson for keeping the House GOP abreast of developments on regular conference calls and direct communications, including texts, when members had questions and concerns.

“That makes it easy to assuage any problems or issues somebody has,” Rep. Brandon Gill told NOTUS. “So it’s just that steady leadership that I think makes a really big difference in times like this.”

“He has remained solidly consistent in his messaging,” Rep. Mark Harris told NOTUS, “and has worked tirelessly to keep the conference informed and encouraged as we have gone through it.”

Shutdowns have often tested Republican leadership. Former Speaker John Boehner’s handling of the 2013 shutdown, and ultimate abandonment of the factions of his conference demanding he defund the ACA, infuriated both ends of his conference and contributed to his ultimate resignation just two years later.

Johnson faced his own political dynamics. The House had already passed a funding bill in September that would have kept the lights on through mid-November and negotiations played out entirely in the Senate.

“That was a different ball game then,” Rep. Mike Kelly recalled of the 2013 debacle. “The difference on this one, though, we passed a bill on Sept. 19.”

Still, Johnson’s support for a continuing resolution and decision to keep the House out of session could have seriously riled his quick-to-anger conference. While some members have bristled at Johnson’s decisions, the rebellions that plagued the speaker’s first year with the gavel do not appear to be forthcoming.

“There was a little bit of back-and-forth in conference, which is fine, people have to get things off their chest. But we passed it and we sent to the Senate,” Kelly continued, calling Johnson “an incredibly gifted guy.”

Of course, Johnson is not without critics.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a chief Johnson antagonist who helped mastermind his ouster attempt in 2024, recently told NOTUS that “by keeping Congress in recess for over a month, the speaker is wasting our precious time in the majority.”

Moderate Rep. Kevin Kiley posted on X that, “It appears likely that both the 41-day shutdown of the federal government and the 53-day absence of the House of Representatives will end this week. This is good news. But neither should have ever happened.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, another regular Johnson critic, said on “The View” last week that keeping the House out of session was “an embarrassment.”

Those voices sound tiny compared to the Republicans vocally backing Johnson over the shutdown.

In the end, the conservative House Freedom Caucus, once a perennial thorn in Johnson’s side, released a memo calling the shutdown outcome a “complete and total win,” figuring that another continuing resolution is preferable to a massive omnibus package around the holidays. No moderate House Republicans have publicly indicated that they will not support the deal.

“The speaker did an outstanding job of keeping the Republican conference unified during this standoff with Chuck Schumer,” said Rep. Ben Cline, a member of the House Freedom Caucus and the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus. “Democrats repeatedly make the mistake of underestimating Mike Johnson.”

Johnson also ensured the White House, and most importantly, Trump, remained in the loop and on board with his plan to keep the House out of session. Johnson constantly communicated with Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune during the shutdown, which allowed them to all stay informed, according to a source familiar with the conversations.

A senior White House aide told NOTUS that Johnson and the White House were “joined at the hip” and in constant communication during the shutdown.

“Johnson gets constant criticism by the press and has continually been underestimated over the last year, but he’s proven he’s the man for the moment,” the aide said.

Johnson is not entirely out of the woods yet this year. He is staring down a bruising fight over releasing the Epstein files, which will reignite when he swears in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva — the anticipated final signature on an Epstein-related discharge petition — this week.

He must also navigate a more moderate faction of his conference calling for a solution to the ACA tax subsidies expiration, which will lead to a major spike in health insurance premiums for millions of Americans.

Rep. Don Bacon called Johnson “a great leader” but added, “now though is time for a bipartisan agreement on the ACA tax credits.”

“Most on both sides want an agreement,” Bacon told NOTUS. “But the shutdown was stupid as hell and totally unnecessary. Many Americans know what Senator King from Maine said and that is the shutdown did not accomplish one thing.”

Reps. Jeff Van Drew, Jeff Hurd, Brian Fitzpatrick and Jen Kiggans have been similarly vocal in the need for addressing the ACA, a notorious political gauntlet for any Republican leader. Johnson will face another spending deadline in January, as well as a group of appropriators who might not take so kindly to another funding patch.

Most House Republicans sound comfortable with the outlook on Johnson’s speakership — at least for now.

“I think that he will handle it well,” Gill said of the myriad political tests on the horizon. “I’ll leave it at that.”