Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing a growing mutiny from his Republican colleagues as the looming 2026 midterm causes "fear and anxiety" in the caucus, according to a new report.
Johnson has faced significant criticism from Republicans in recent weeks over his leadership. Republican women like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have publicly called men in the caucus "weak" over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files saga. After Democrats overperformed in the Tennessee special election this week, several GOP lawmakers are starting to feel the heat, NBC News reported on Thursday.
"The confluence is weakened political power by Trump, the result from the elections in New Jersey, New York and Virginia, and people getting anxious about the election. There’s a lot of anxiety and stress about the election, and people looking at their own districts, saying, ‘I thought things were going to be different,'" one senior House Republican lawmaker told the outlet.
“And I just think being off for 50 days, there was no continuity. Nobody was here. There was nobody like, ‘Hey, you’re doing great. Keep it up,'” the lawmaker continued. “Everyone being back in their district, there was a loneliness. A lot of members may have felt like we’re on our own.”
Amid the turmoil, Johnson faced a mutiny from another female Republican, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who filed a discharge petition to circumvent Johnson and force the House to vote on legislation that would ban Congress members from owning or trading stocks.
Similarly, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is mulling over a discharge petition to levy "crushing" sanctions on Russia over Trump's floundering peace deal.