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mIt looks like Ike Johnson’s luck has finally run out amid the government shutdown fight.
He now faces intense pressure from Democrats and even some of his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate, as he has kept the House out of session since September. Johnson apparently did this after the House Stopgap spending bill passedis known as a continuing resolution, Expect Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to blink just like they did in March.
Every day since last week, Johnson Have gathered journalists to hold a press conference and blame Schumer and Democrats to keep government closed,
This time it didn’t work out that way. Rather, Democrats have rejected a “clean” continuation proposal and demanded that any continuation proposal include an extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced tax credits for the health care marketplace. And Johnson is hearing people’s anger.
When he appeared on C-SPAN on Thursday, a Republican military spouse from Virginia criticized him for not introducing legislation to ensure military pay.
“As a Republican, I’m very disappointed in my party and I’m very disappointed in you, too, because you have the power to recall the House,” she told a sad-looking Johnson, who sat shaking his head. “You refused to do it just for him.”
In response, Johnson placed blame on Democrats and said Schumer would “keep it in the Senate.”
But now he is facing criticism from his own party in the House. Some Republicans have floated the idea of a one-year extension of the health care tax credit, which Democrats have rejected.
Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene Johnson and Republican leadership ignited Due to the lack of a plan to deal with the potentially doubling of health care premiums.
Greene also criticized Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune on CNN, suggesting that Republicans use a torpedo to end the shutdown.
But it’s not just the government shutdown that Johnson is facing criticism for. Last month, Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat, won a special election to fill her late father’s old seat in Arizona’s 7th congressional district. But Johnson has refused to administer the oath to him.
This ultimately led to Arizona’s two Democratic senators—Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly—confronting Johnson outside his office.
“There are 750,000 people in that district who have no representation,” Kelly said. Independent“He has sworn in other people before. Under these circumstances, he should be sworn in.”
Many have speculated that Johnson refused to swear him in because he would have the 218th signature needed to cast a discharge petition to declassify files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
“They teach in war that all plans are worthless when we first come into contact,” Gallego, a trash-talking Marine, told me. Independent“The Republicans’ plan was, ‘We’ll get the Democrats to unify. And then we’ll somehow get to this, eventually deal with the ACA,’ I think they didn’t realize we were not going to unify, and after that they had no Plan B.”
It’s a major reversal of fortunes for Johnson, who became speaker two years ago this month after a bitter fight among Republicans after Matt Gaetz ousted Kevin McCarthy.
Johnson, until then a mostly anonymous backbencher, emerged as a consensus candidate who built relationships with every faction. He worked carefully to work with Democrats during Joe Biden’s presidency, including on aid to Ukraine and blocking a conservative coup attempt by the Greens.
When Donald Trump returned to the White House, Johnson got another chit. The president’s confidence meant he could call out Trump and force his most extreme conservative members to unify, as was the case with passage of “a big, beautiful bill.”
But Trump has mostly been out for lunch during the shutdown. Instead of negotiating with Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Trump enjoyed making memes about spending cuts and even saying he wanted a deal on health care.
So far, Johnson has held the line. He still has considerable influence, given that as speaker, he controls the calendar and can keep the House out of session as long as he wants. Schumer also told Independent Schumer, Jeffries, Thune and Johnson said during a reporter Q&A earlier this week that any deal to reopen the government would need to reach a compromise.
But every day soldiers are paid, every story of premiums doubling across states — including his native Louisiana — increases the pressure on them. They have no legal or moral obligation to keep the House out. But his political obligations may force him to step back.