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Why I Admire Speaker Mike Johnson
After years of watching the Republicans squabbling with each other, allowing their egos to be on full display and not demonstrating any concern for the populace, I was just about to cash in on the Republican Party.
But now I think, maybe not.
The new speaker, Mike Johnson, is not the perfect choice for that position. But there is no perfect choice. And all those who criticize him are not prepared to run for that role, but would rather protest against him with all their excuses for not choosing him. Johnson is not a rabble-rouser. He doesn’t pick fights. He prefers to negotiate and talk issues through. And he has probably made mistakes bargaining with Democrats in the recent past.
I think those times are over.
First, Johnson has made himself very clear: he is speaker because he is there to lead the Republicans to actualize President Trump’s agenda. He has acknowledged the expectations of some House members and agreed to them:
[Ralph]Norman told Fox News he changed his vote after he got some assurances from Johnson.
‘I said, ‘Mike, are you going to give us specific examples of fighting for the things we mentioned? Will you give us your word?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ So I said, ‘OK, we’ll take you at your word.’ That’s why I changed my vote,” Norman explained Friday on ‘The Story.’
Norman shared his initial opposition was rooted in concern as to whether Johnson had the ‘willingness to fight for Trump’s agenda.’
I have no doubt that Norman already knew Johnson’s position regarding Trump, but he wanted to go on record for asking for assurances. This posturing tends to be part of the political process, and it gave Norman and Johnson both the opportunity to speak to the Trump agenda.
On the other hand, Thomas Massie was playing games with the process, in my opinion. A few comments he made showed his disrespect for Johnson and for the speaker position, and there was no convincing him that he was wrong. This statement sums up his errant attitude:
‘We’ll see who gets the votes. But it’s ridiculous to say that Mike Johnson, out of 219 Republicans, is the only one who can be elected to speaker and that’s why we should elect him,’ he said.
Of course, Johnson wasn’t the only person who could be elected, but no one else wanted the job or could be elected by the Republican caucus. I have no idea what point Massie intended to make, but he got his 15 seconds of fame.
There are very specific reasons why I admire Mike Johnson. I do believe he is a man of his word, and have no reason to believe otherwise; integrity goes a long way in this dysfunctional political environment. I also believe that Johnson and Trump are well-aligned to make sure that smart decisions are made to move this country forward. Johnson also is an optimist, but not a Pollyanna, and likes to assure people that efforts will resolve successfully.
Chip Roy and the Freedom Caucus wrote a “demand letter” to Mike Johnson that included the following concerns:
The letter detailed a list of concessions to which they believe Johnson should have committed, including changing the calendar so the House will ‘work at least as hard as the Senate,’ which would mean being in session five days a week for the first 10 weeks of the new Congress.
They also wanted Johnson to promise that any reconciliation bills reduce spending. The group also wrote that Johnson should guarantee that members of Congress can offer amendments and that bills reaching the House floor do not violate the rule requiring members to have 72 hours to read and debate a bill before it is put up for a vote. The caucus also wanted assurances that Johnson would not ‘rely heavily on Democrat support for passage’ of bills.
Of course, there is nothing binding about this letter. And although they obviously voted for Johnson for the speaker position, this letter gave them the opportunity to state their mostly deeply held views; some of them are more significant than others. But they at least had their say, and I hope that their desire to reduce spending in the reconciliation bills will be honored.
But there is one reason I especially like Mike Johnson:
‘My simple message to my colleagues is, make suggestions about process improvements, we’re open to that at all times. But I don’t make deals with anyone. There’s no quid pro quo here. I don’t do anything in exchange for a vote’ Johnson told CNN’s Sarah Ferris in the morning before the voting for speaker began.
In an institution where deal-making is built into the process, I’m impressed that Johnson has made this stand.
And I hope he stays with it.
Published in Politics
Great, if true.
This would also place him in a much different category from an earlier Speaker who would do most anything to be prom king…including promises he could not / would not keep and rule changes that ensured a feebleness against those broken promises that led to his demise.
A thing the members of the “Freedom Caucus” should consider is although the squeaky wheels do get greased. they also move closer to the top of the “Needs Replacement” list, too.
Well, Matt Gaetz wasn’t around to weigh in on the contest for House Speaker. Maybe that’s why things went a bit more smoothly than expected?
I’m not so sure their protest will work in their favor. I guess it depends on how well-aligned they are with the President’s goals.
Good point! Althought Chip Roy can be pretty adamant. But I think Gaetz’s absence helped!
It would definitely set him apart. I hope he can withstand the pressures to deal with them. Then again, he has Trump on his side. No small thing.
Well, since Johnson got Trump’s public endorsement, none of them got their “Team Player” box check-marked for this one.
I am not forgetting that 2000 page spend-fest he proposed last month. The previous Congress never did use the power of the purse and simply continued the Pelosi budget for 2 years. Spineless.
I think he knows that was a huge mistake. I will judge him from now on, based on the choices he makes.
I think (hope) he can be stronger with this Congress as he won’t have to deal with Schumer like he did with the last one.
He used up his Mulligan last year with that $60 Billion to Ukraine flip-flop. Not paid for. No accounting requirements. No concessions. Just a gift to Joe Biden.
Thank goodness. A return to the good old days of advancing conservative goals in an organised, effective and drama-free manner. Surely only a matter of time before we once again have a balanced budget and a tiny administrative state, just like we did before all those bombthrowers and squeaky wheels started on their nonsense…
Oh.
For those people who are skeptical (maybe cynical) about Johnson’s ability to do the job, does having Trump’s endorsement mean anything? Or do you think Trump was trying to get past the vote. I think Trump is sincere, and he knows Johnson is bright and up for the job.
I think it’s going to be okay. Johnson let the Dems jam in pork to their hearts’ content into the continuing resolution, lock up resources for the foreseeable future, and provide themselves with all manner of extralegal protections from the righteous wrath of the American people. Johnson handed that off to the folks working with Trump, who sniggled out and broadcast all the grisly bits out over social media. This guaranteed howls of outrage from the citizens and provoked a backlash of epic proportions. The CR ignominiously collapsed, and hey-presto a stripped version one tenth the size popped up lickety-boom just in time for a get-out-of-DC-by-Christmas vote. Did Johnson do that because he didn’t know what the response would be, or because he did?
I don’t know for sure, but it could be the Dems got played like a $30 saxophone.
Johnson is the practical choice and Trump had no other option. Unfortunately, Speaker Johnson does not have the same policies and principles that Rep. Johnson had.
I like your perspective, Percival. I guess we’ll have to see how the next several months play out.
#2. For all of Trump’s positive positions and strengths, being concerned about debt is not part of his DNA. He is a real estate developer. They live in debt with a gambler’s instincts. That is not always bad, but it is always risky. If asked, I would bet Trump would much rather grow his way out of debt than save his way out.
I think you’re right. He wants the issue out of the way and the ceiling lifted so that he can move on. I’m not happy that we seem to raise the debt limit so casually, but there are bigger fish to fry.
Until the only fish to fry is ourselves. The problem is the only time we will know we’ve gone too far with debt is when nobody wants to lend us money to sustain the debt and the cost falls entirely on the American citizen. The picture of the German man pushing a wheel barrel full of cash comes to mind. The expression goes… bankruptcy happens very slowly, and then all at once.
It would be very difficult to convince me that there’s any way around the problem, other than THROUGH. Even those who regularly tout wisdom such as “Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other” seem to think the US can somehow be exempt from that. I’m not so confident. Fortunately, the things I think are important to be able to get THROUGH a collapse – owning a home rather than renting, etc – are also good things even if there isn’t one. (And might very well be able to avert a collapse, if more people were doing them.)
The problem in the party is the normies have been ignored and taken the brunt of condescension for too long and have no patience left for the spineless and the establishment types. They will react, even overreact, to every disappointment. I don’t blame them. This is what happens when you let a wound fester then rub it with alcohol.
It’s a solid question. It seems like McConnell, Schumer, and Jeffries (or at least the former two) had everything worked out for the CR, per business as usual and Johnson would have been the lone dissent. There was the brief crying foul over nuking the “bipartisan agreement,” and the media repeated the talking point ad nauseum.
Johnson was quick to action which suggests something prepared. I imagine the CR that passed was going to be his initial offering as the four caucus leaders worked things out, but McConnell and Schumer already had their payoffs prepped and Jeffries was happy to sign on.
Public reaction, spurred by Trump and somewhat ably channeled by Vivek Ramaswamy, gave Johnson the opportunity. Perhaps Johnson and Trump discussed it before the CR hit, it’s a comforting thought, but whether it was coordinated or not, Johnson showed some savvy. The short timespan for these omnibus type bills from introduction to vote was meant to aide its passage, but in this case the deadline worked in Johnson’s favor as the other leaders had little choice but to accept the drafted alternative given public outcry and the timeline.
I like to think Trump and Johnson outmaneuvered McConnell and Schumer. “Shutdown” was never a public concern, just a media battle cry. Somewhere, Tea Party alums may have the slight starts of grins.
I’m with you, Chris. It looks like they may have learned a few things.
Trump endorsed Johnson after this whole thing played out. And that fallback deal came out oh so fast. Like I said, I could be wrong, but …