
(DailyVantage.com) – Not even six months into his tenure as Speaker of the House of Representatives, a number of GOP members in Congress are already souring on Republican Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson’s way of doing things.
One of the most vocal voices among the right-wingers in the conservative party, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said of Johnson, “I don’t think he’s safe right now,” adding that the only reason Johnson is still holding on to his seat is that “our conference (Republicans) is so desperate.” Another GOP representative, Patrick McHenry from North Carolina, said that Republicans were “sucking wind” under Johnson’s leadership, and urged the speaker to expand his support base outside those from the far-right of the party.
Johnson recently managed to keep the federal government funded and running for a few more months, after much wrangling between parties in both the Lower and Upper Houses. The price Johnson had to pay was to allow a clean funding bill to pass – a pet initiative of the Democrats – which has in turn earned him animosity from some in his own party. Just months ago, Johnson’s predecessor, the former speaker and the former and now-retired California Representative Kevin McCarthy, found himself in similar straits – which resulted in him being booted out of the speakership. In contrast though, McCarthy lasted 269 days as Speaker – giving him the distinction of having the third-shortest speakership term in U.S. history – while Johnson just barely hit his 90th day wielding the Speaker’s gavel.
Still, the discontent against Johnson is in its infancy, and there are few among Republicans who relish repeating the circus that surrounded their search for a new speaker a few months ago – which even had some House Republicans receiving death threats over the issue. It is worth mentioning, however, that it only took eight House GOP members to oust McCarthy, who were joined by 208 of the 213 Democrats in Congress.
Copyright 2024, DailyVantage.com