Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) looks to be trying to take down House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on her way out of Congress, according to an analyst.
The New York Republican launched an attack on the embattled House speaker as he sets up a vote on a defense funding bill and attempts to cobble together a health care package, and MS NOW's Hayes Brown said Johnson could be facing a mutiny.
"Stefanik, who is running for governor of New York, has become the figurehead of a growing frustration with Johnson’s speakership — despite being a member of the caucus’s senior leadership," Brown wrote.
The GOP congresswoman said she believes a majority of Republicans would vote for new leadership and compared Johnson unfavorably to his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, and she managed to force a MAGA-coded provision back into the defense bill against the speaker's wishes.
"Johnson can’t only worry about Stefanik," Brown wrote. "All of the most brutal attacks are coming from his members who, like Stefanik, already have a foot out of the door. In addition to Stefanik, there’s Rep. Chip Roy, who wants to be Texas’ next attorney general. And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia who’s retiring because (somewhat ironically) she appears to be tired of not being able to do enough legislating. And Greene has linked that frustration to Johnson’s subservience to President Donald Trump."
Stefanik and Johnson later attempted to cool their feud, at least in public, but Brown said the speaker is facing additional tests.
"Johnson still must deal with a growing number of insurrections from among the rank-and-file," Brown wrote. "There’s no sign that the increase in discharge petitions, which can force legislation onto the floor without the speaker’s approval, will dissipate anytime soon. NBC News also reported a growing concern from women in the Republican caucus that their voices are being drowned out. And then there’s the reality of his two-vote majority — which, when Greene’s resignation takes effect in January, will for some stretch of time become a one-vote majority."
Things won't get any easier for Johnson in the coming days as he works to get the defense bill passed and finalize a health care package, both of which seem to be heavy lifts.
"It’s hard to see how Johnson will manage to appease the centrists who are worried about spiking Obamacare premiums and the hardliners who would be fine with gutting the program entirely," Brown wrote.
"Stefanik and other Republicans who are leaving have been more than willing to set fire to the House on their way out of Washington," the columnist added. "Johnson is trying to douse the flames with a leaky bucket. It probably won’t happen this week, but the big question is how much longer before the rising heat overtakes him."