House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) grip on power appears to be slipping, as a growing number of the House Republican Conference publicly denounces his leadership.
That's according to a Tuesday article by Politico's Meredith Lee Hill and Hailey Fuchs, who reported that Johnson's tenure as speaker appears to be teetering "on a razor's edge" as numerous Republicans take stances against him.
"Increasingly, rank-and-file House Republicans are bringing their spats with Johnson into the open, suggesting the speaker is losing further control over his restive members as his already slim majority threatens to narrow further and potentially devastating midterm elections loom," they wrote.
The latest flashpoint of conflict involves former House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) — who gave up her position atop the House GOP to join President Donald Trump's administration only for her appointment to be withdrawn – accusing the speaker of trying to "protect the deep state." One unnamed Republican confided to Politico that Stefanik was "running for governor and frankly does not give a f—— anymore about playing nice."
Rep. Kevin Kiley (D-Calif.), who has spoken out against Johnson for keeping the House of Representatives out of session for seven weeks this fall — argued that Stefanik's outburst is just the latest example of Johnson failing to keep his conference united.
“I do think that there’s a lot of frustration right now in the House with the effectiveness or lack thereof of this body in recent months,” Kiley told Politico. “The House has ... in some cases ceded its own authority, hasn’t taken the lead on a lot of important policy measures and has even taken steps now to limit the agency of individual members.”
One unnamed "senior House Republican" anonymously told Politico that Johnson's control over House Republicans has been largely dependent on Trump intervening to have his back when members threaten to defect on certain key votes. But that official suggested the strategy of relying on Trump may have a limited shelf life.
“That model only works if no one challenges him and gets away with it,” the Republican said. “And that’s not what’s happening now. … People are less willing to stay quiet.”
Click here to read Politico's full article in its entirety.