Overview
- Multiple reports based on The Atlantic’s account say GOP members have begun private discussions about removing Johnson.
- A Wall Street Journal analysis describes moderates using the slim majority to extract concessions, with four Republicans signing a Jeffries discharge petition on Affordable Care Act subsidies to set up a potential Democratic vote next month.
- Johnson’s recent assertion that he has not lost control was undercut by a bipartisan maneuver to force action on health-care subsidies and by Republicans saying he has “lost practical control of the House.”
- Critics, including ex-Rep. Bob Good, depict Johnson as deferential to President Trump, with one current Republican saying he “functions like a staff member.”
- Rule changes backed by Johnson raised the bar for ousting a speaker, even as departures and planned exits — including Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Jan. 5 resignation and Nancy Mace’s gubernatorial run — add to the pressure on his leadership.