Honeymoon Over for Johnson

In an earlier article, this reporter wrote that new House Speaker Mike Johnson, over time, may lament wanting his new position as speaker. In that article, this reporter paraphrased what Star Trek icon Mr. Spock in an episode, said about wanting something that you think you want. In that episode, Mr. Spock told a suitor whom he wanted to take as his wife, someone who was intended by custom for Mr. Spock. In the end, Spock released his intended bride to the person who desired her saying, “Often one may desire something that appeals to him, then over time, one may find that what he seeks was not so appealing.” Reality may be settling in for new House speaker Mike Johnson, as he begins to realize that his new role as Speaker is not going to be as smooth a ride as he may have thought it would. He, like all of us, saw how his Republicans colleagues ran Kevin McCarthy out of Dodge because he didn’t do or couldn’t control his caucus quite as well as Nancy Pelosi did when she was speaker. That’s because Pelosi wouldn’t let the inmates take over the asylum. Johnson's first test was to avert a government shutdown without Democrats by getting legislation through the House that he knew Dems in the Senate would reject. That plan failed because of hardline resistance by the same folks who blamed McCarthy for making an earlier deal so soon in his tenure as speaker, that the only reason why the government did not shut down was because Democrats provided the votes to pass legislation that the Senate approved of leading to President Joe Biden signing the legislation. Johnson’s plan of passing legislation for aid to Israel by slashing funding for the IRS was a non-starter from the beginning because many saw that as a tool for helping the wealthy avoid paying more in taxes if the IRS continues to remain shorthanded in collecting taxes. Johnson has only a couple of months before he must come back to the same people who have brought him no ideas other than to cut spending in the Justice Department or some other agency such as the IRS while they continue an investigation into Hunter Biden hoping that somehow President Biden is involved. They would love to find a way to slash Biden administration salaries to $1. If that doesn’t work, they can always come up with “woke” legislation as a way to solve the nation’s problems. Republicans in the House are disappointed so far with Johnson’s performance, as it is just barely a step above what McCarthy was able to accomplish as speaker. Johnson also knows that Republicans are not happy and that he needs to come up with something that is a game-changer, seeing how unified Democrats are under the leadership of Hakeem Jefferies. Johnson knows how impatient conservatives like Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor-Greene can become, knowing that the 2024 elections are rapidly approaching and that they need to show voters some tangible progress instead of saying the same old talking points. Johnson will say that he is in a “very different situation” than McCarthy, but the fact is that the government is headed for another shutdown, issues at the border remain, international issues in Israel, with Hamas, and aid for Ukraine are the things that will keep Johnson up at night. Johnson has to find a way to work with Mitch McConnell in the Senate on legislation that may have a chance of passage that Chuck Schumer and Democrats might pass. Nonetheless, it is a tricky tightrope for Johnson to walk. Especially if some hardliners are not holding a safety net for him. As of now, Congress is home for Thanksgiving, literally wasting what little precious time is left since they have had their August recess, as December promises to be a short month. Once the new year starts, Johnson knows from his time as a congressman, that the partisanship will pick up right where Congress left it. Whatever ideas Johnson may have to turn things around had better come soon, as patience is wearing thin by some of his hard-rights friends. We know what can happen then. The honeymoon’s over. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.