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.