Mike Johnson may not have his job very long thanks to his pals on the far right

You would think that with his affinity for Christian nationalism, fellowship with the far-right fringes in Congress, and willingness to serve as a vassal for Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would be secure in his job. But in the bizarro universe of the House GOP, he’s hanging on by his fingernails.

Johnson has only been on the job two months, and already right-wing Republicans are disenchanted with him. His primary offense is that he isn’t the purist that the right wants, even though the hard-core positions that the right wants have zero chance of passing the House.

Related:

Far-right Republicans are now calling Mike Johnson “woke” over LGBTQ+ military provisions

Mike Johnson’s views are extreme, but some Republicans don’t think he’s extreme enough.

The latest offense that Johnson has committed in the eyes of the House Freedom Caucus, the collection of 40+ ultra-conservative Republicans, was passing a $886 billion defense policy bill that did not include provisions banning medical care for transgender troops. The right also complained that the measure didn’t stop the Pentagon’s policy of paying for military personnel to travel if they needed an abortion.

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“This is an obvious play to end-run conservative objections and pass liberal ‘woke’ military policy with the help of House Democrats,” the Freedom Caucus complained.

The idea of branding Johnson, who made a career out of attacking LGBTQ+ rights, as “woke” shows just how much the Freedom Caucus lives in a world of magical thinking. Johnson was being pragmatic, knowing that, with just a four-vote majority on his side, he had to take what he could get. Even if the House passed the most restrictive bill, it would die in the Democratic-majority Senate and President Joe Biden would never sign it.

But the Freedom Caucus doesn’t care about passing bills. They care about scoring points.

The caucus members had already given Johnson a grudging pass on the budget bill last month when he pushed through a bill to prevent a government funding shutdown. But they weren’t happy about it then.

They are even more unhappy with Johnson now. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) told Politico that Johnson’s performance rating was “plummeting.”

“I’ve not given up hope on him. But right now, it looks pretty bleak,” Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) told The Messenger.

The problem that Johnson has is that the Freedom Caucus’ favorite pastime is the defenestration of Republican speakers. They made John Boehner’s life so miserable that he quit. They debated ousting his successor, Paul Ryan, before Ryan himself quit. Then they forced Kevin McCarthy to publicly grovel for their support to become speaker, only to have a handful of the caucus members wield the votes to throw him out eight months later.

Boehner described the Freedom Caucus as “anarchists. They want total chaos. Tear it all down and start over. That’s where their mind-set is.” 

With that burn-it-all-down attitude, even Johnson isn’t safe. It doesn’t matter that Johnson is one of their own, about as far right as you could imagine. He hasn’t shown that he’s willing to bring government to a standstill for the sake of political fantasies. In the end, that makes him a target. Perhaps the Freedom Caucus will decide that he’s the best they can do and will live with him, but Johnson shouldn’t get too comfortable in the job. He may not have it for very long.